


At Least It's Not Cancer

by ohfortheloveofgaming



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, Alcohol, Angst, Blood, Character Death, Character Revival, Cheating(?), Drama, Evil!Tweek, F/M, Fighting, Heartbreak, Impalement, M/M, Medical stuff, Multi, Romance, but it's never mentioned outright, obvious drug use if you know about Tweek's coffee stuff, radiation, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 52,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohfortheloveofgaming/pseuds/ohfortheloveofgaming
Summary: “Give it to me straight, Doc, do I have cancer?” he managed to squeak out.Kenny couldn’t hold back a small chuckle at the statement. “No, Tweekers, you don’t have cancer,” he said affectionately, using his regular voice instead of the gruff, rumbly one Tweek had grown accustomed to hearing while they were in costume.“Then what is it?” Tweek asked, his shoulders finally slumping with relieved tension. He’d avoided the worst possible outcome his mind could comprehend, but he still had yet to hear the exact reason why he was in the back room. If it wasn’t cancer, then what was it?
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Craig Tucker, Kenny McCormick/Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Tweek Tweak, Leopold "Butters" Stotch/Tweek Tweak
Comments: 56
Kudos: 92





	1. At Least It's Not Cancer!

**Author's Note:**

> Updated on 05/27/2020

Kenny stepped into the lounge of the Freedom Pals’ base, a stack of brown envelopes cradled in his arms. He’d seemed a lot happier lately since they were finally able to afford a decent sized house just on the outside of town to have as their base of operations. All of the Freedom Pals had pooled a small amount of their income collectively every month for years with the dream of finally being able to meet somewhere other than Token’s basement, and now that dream was finally realized.

“Alright, so we have the tests back from our yearly ability inspection,” he announced loudly as he waved the envelopes in the air to quiet down the bungle of Freedom Pals who had been chatting idly as they waited for the meeting to start.

“Tupperware, according to your papers, we found some weak points in your armor,” Kenny continued after everyone’s eyes were on him. “We’ll talk together with Toolshed tomorrow about the best way to fortify them. Here’s your papers-” he handed Token a manilla envelope labeled “confidential” in bright red letters- “they’ve got the x-rays and written data to explain where and what needs fixed.”

Token nodded as he opened the envelope. He pulled out a short stack of papers which were neatly held together by a paperclip and began reading through them.

“Call Girl, since you’re not necessarily mutated, we went through an investigation of your phones. As we already suspected, you’ve followed our policies to the “T” and haven’t given out any information that wasn’t directed to be released, and all other confidential information you have on your devices is hidden behind an impressive firewall. We’re proud to have you on the team.”

Wendy beamed upon hearing this and leaned into her boyfriend, Stan, who rubbed her back proudly as she was handed her papers.

“Alright, moving on, Toolshed, since your body is also mostly human, we did an inspection of your tools instead,” Kenny continued as he sorted through the envelopes in his hands and pulled out the one with the name “Toolshed” on it, then handed it to him. “Everything is up to par outside of your portable toolbox. I noticed the latch on it was getting a little loose. The state should be willing to replace the entire toolbox if you just fill out the request sheet in your envelope and mail it in.”

Stan pumped his fist in triumph, a grin on his face. “Nice, dude. I’ve been wanting a bigger box.”

Kenny snorted, his young, male brain quickly flipping into “immature” mode at the statement. Awesome, dude. Awesome.

Kenny took a moment to clear his throat and maintain his composure before continuing. “For anyone interested, I have the results for both Doctor Timothy and myself here as well, but to make sure everyone understands, everything said here is confidential. Only the Freedom Pals get to know any of what’s in these documents, and that goes for ALL of them, okay?” He paused to give a hard look to both Stan and Tweek.

A chorus of “Okay”s followed his statement as the two under scrutiny looked elsewhere in the room to break the harsh gaze.

Stan looked beyond embarrassed as he stared at the wall. He’d gotten in trouble a while back for confiding in his Super Best Friend, Kyle, about confidential information. It wouldn’t have been near as big of a deal if Kyle didn’t also happen to be a superhero, albeit a fellow superhero for the Freedom Pals’ rivals, the Coon and Friends. 

Tweek, on the other hand, looked nervous as he stared at the floor. Of course he knew better than to give out information like that, but oh god, what if he accidentally let something slip while he was talking to his boyfriend, Craig? What if Craig had bugged him and he and everyone else in Coon and Friends were listening to this conversation, hearing about all of their weaknesses and plans?!

Also, why hadn’t his information been given out already? What if something bad was happening to him? What was he going to do if he had cancer from the very radioactive material that gave him his powers? Was he going to die soon? What kind of life had he lived to justify dying at twenty-two?!

“Wonder Kid, chill out,” Kenny said, snapping Tweek out of his thoughts. It was almost like Kennny could hear his inner turmoil. “I’ll talk to you more in a minute, just let me get all of this other stuff out of the way.”

Oh, Jesus, he was going to get yelled at in the back room, wasn’t he? He’d fucked something up, he knew it! 

“According to these results, Doctor Timothy’s brain is doing just fine. Nothing of concern was discovered during his scan,” Kenny continued. “As for me, apparently my melee combat has been making the tendons in my ankles weak, so I get to wear compression socks for a while.”

Tweek made an odd noise as anxiety and impatience made him more fidgety than usual.

“That concludes our meeting for today. You’re all dismissed,” Kenny stated. “Except for you, Wonder Kid. Can you come with me to the back room so we can talk? Doctor Timothy is waiting for us there."

Oh, god. Oh, Jesus. Oh, holy _fuck._ Tweek had been right! He was going to get yelled at! What had he done this time?! Was it about the time he accidentally shocked the mayor when she’d gone to shake his hand? He thought he’d apologized enough for that already! Was he going to get fired over that? He couldn’t lose his job! This was all _too much pressure!_

 _“Tweek,”_ Kenny said firmly, snapping him out of his thoughts once again. Tweek quickly looked around to see that everyone else had already left. That must have been why Kenny used his real name. Had he really been thinking for that long? He was about to go off on yet another mental tangent, but then Kenny spoke again.

“Come on, let’s not keep the Doctor waiting.”

Tweek gulped loudly as his shaky legs somehow carried him obediently over to Kenny, who opened the door to the private room for him.

It was small and cramped, with a tiny table in the middle with a chair on either end. This was the room that questionings and personal investigations were often held in, as well as private reprimands. 

He whimpered softly as he walked through the doorway. Kenny shut the door behind him as Tweek stood in place, his body shaking with fear as he watched Kenny step past him to stand beside Timmy.

His worries weren’t eased when he saw looks of concern on their faces instead of anger. This was it. He was either totally fired or totally dying. Awesome, what a way to end a long day at work.

Doctor Timothy brought his hands up to his head and began to speak with him telepathically, his message audible to Kenny as well. _“You aren’t in trouble, Tweek. This is about your test results.”_

Oh, great. So he was dying. Wonderful. 

_“As I’m sure you remember, we took a blood sample and did radiation testing.”_

Tweek bit his lip as he nodded. How could he forget that awful, painstaking process they had gone through in the infirmary? The radiation testing had been fine, but he’d passed out twice during the blood drawing process, once from seeing the needle, and then again after he’d seen the vial full of his blood.

“Give it to me straight, Doc, do I have cancer?” he managed to squeak out.

Kenny couldn’t hold back a small chuckle at the statement. “No, Tweekers, you don’t have cancer,” he said affectionately, using his regular voice instead of the gruff, rumbly one Tweek had grown accustomed to hearing while they were in costume.

“Then what is it?” Tweek asked, his shoulders finally slumping with relieved tension. He’d avoided the worst possible outcome his mind could comprehend, but he still had yet to hear the exact reason why he was in the back room. If it wasn’t cancer, then what was it?

 _“We ran multiple tests and discovered that your DNA is steadily becoming more and more unstable,”_ Timmy stated. 

Kenny brought out Tweek’s manilla envelope and opened it, pulling out some pictures and documents for him to see. “Timmy and Nicole went through this with me so I could hopefully explain it to you in simpler terms,” he said as he laid out two pictures in front of Tweek. They were both obviously images of DNA strands, but each picture had red markings and highlights to specific areas, the second picture more so than the first.

The first picture was pushed closer to Tweek. “Okay, so, this picture here is an image of your DNA from last year’s examination,” Kenny explained. “As you can see, Nicole highlighted and marked each point of interest, but I’m not going to explain any of how or why she did that because I don’t understand it myself.”

Tweek made a soft noise of uncertainty. Wasn’t this news best delivered by a doctor? What if Kenny misunderstood something or explained it badly to him? He didn’t quite feel comfortable with one of his friends telling him how he was going to die.

“Tweek, pay attention,” Kenny huffed. He was starting to get a little frustrated with how out of it Tweek seemed to be today.

“S-Sorry!” Tweek peeped out, his voice high pitched and strained. “This is… this is just- just super scary.”

Kenny’s features softened at the remark. “I know, man, I know, but it’s something you need to hear. Try to listen closely, okay?” he said gently.

Tweek bit his lip and nodded, then turned his attention back to the pictures.

Satisfied, Kenny started his explanation over.

“Okay, so this first picture is of your DNA a year ago. The other picture is of your DNA this year. Can you tell me the difference?” Kenny asked.

“...” Tweek stared at the pictures for a few moments. “The second picture has a lot more highlights and red lines?” 

“Right,” Kenny said with a praising smile. “Those lines are indicators of faults and mutations.”

Kenny gestured to the second picture. “As you can see, your DNA is rapidly changing and, well, to put it simply, we don’t have any idea what it means for you, but we’re going to test out some theories for your benefit.”

Tweek gulped. He quickly told himself that he would be fine. If there were no certainties about his condition just yet, and he hadn’t been feeling sick or off in any way, then nothing _too_ bad could come from this… right?

“Nicole thinks that your body is changing to adapt to your current weather controlling abilities, and that the radiation in your system is what’s allowing you to mutate so fast,” Kenny said. “She said it’s more than likely harmless, and you’re only going through changes that are beneficial to your body.”

Tweek nodded as he followed along.

 _“I think your mutations are making room for new abilities,”_ Timmy projected. _“Your body is developing faster than it can genetically handle in order to make room for further evolution. I believe it will be harmful to your health in the future.”_

“What he said,” Kenny nodded. “Anyway, we want to try a few possible solutions out, mainly for your protection.”

“What are you suggesting?” Tweek asked.

“Since we don’t know whether you’re developing new powers or just mutating to use your current ones better, Timmy and Nicole have decided the current best option to keep you safe is for you to only use one of your powers until we have more information to work with.”

“What’s that going to do?” Tweek asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

_“We’re hoping that it will help curb the speed of your mutation.”_

“Oh, alright,” Tweek said. He didn’t fully understand how that would work, but he supposed he shouldn’t question the certified brainiac and the absent doctor. Obviously they knew what was best, right?

With that in mind, he decided that he’d continue to use his lightning. That power was his most developed, after all, and he could make it stronger with a simple cup of coffee. He’d be perfectly safe on the field if he stuck to what he did best, right?

“Alright, that’s pretty much all there is to it,” Kenny said, relieved Tweek was handling the whole situation better than he’d thought he would. “We’re gonna have you come in for more testing next Wednesday to see if our little experiment is working. We’ll just check your radiation levels and take another blood sample, nothing too unbearable or time-consuming.”

Tweek nodded, though he’d grown visibly more pallid at the mention of another blood draw. “O-Okay, I’ll remember that. I’ll, um... put it in my phone calendar,” he promised. “What time should I come in?”

“Try for noon.”

Tweek nodded again and pulled out his phone so he could enter the reminder as he turned to leave, thinking that was his dismissal.

Just as he reached for the door handle, though, Kenny spoke again. “Oh, and Tweek?”

Tweek looked back with a raised eyebrow.

“Craig can’t know about any of this. You two may be a duo, but this is private information.”

“I know,” Tweek chirped, then quickly slipped out the door, biting his lip out of anxiety when his back was turned to them.

He knew from the very beginning that he wouldn’t be able to tell Craig about this, but as his feet began their slow trek up the stairs and out the door to his own house where his boyfriend also resided, he couldn’t help but fret and worry about something slipping out.

Everything he had been told, well, that was a huge burden on his shoulders, made worse by the fact that he’d only really be able to talk about it with his superiors and Nicole whilst in a work setting. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to cope? Why, oh _why_ couldn’t he confide in Craig- who was his level headed hero in trying times- about something that could potentially lead to sickness or even death? 

Also, how was he supposed to keep this secret if Craig started asking him about why he was only using one of his powers? How was he supposed to keep quiet if Craig came up to him and started talking in that low, concerned voice he always donned when he was worried about him? Why did Craig have to make this all so complicated by staying with Coon and Friends despite his own boyfriend being on their rival team?!

Tweek made a loud growling noise and balled a fist up tightly in his messy blonde hair, tugging roughly at it as he panicked over this new, scary situation. He was so locked up in his own mind that he didn’t seem to realize that his feet had carried him up the outside stairs to his front porch until his nose met smack with the screen door, and he fell backwards onto his butt, his free hand now holding his face.

Seconds later, their heavy wooden door opened with that blasted screen door quickly following. Tweek looked up and the pain in his face subsided as his heart throbbed upon seeing his handsome lover looking down at him with a frown.

“You bleeding?” Craig asked.

Tweek’s face quickly grew red with embarrassment as he took his hand away from his nose to check. “Doesn’t- HNG-! look like it,” he squawked.

Craig quickly stepped out of the doorway and bent down to help Tweek back onto his feet. “Looks like you’ve either got a lot on your mind or too much caffeine in your bloodstream. Something happen at work today?” he asked.

Tweek made a noise similar to a soft sob. He’d walked smack into one of the situations he’d dreaded.

Hearing the noise Tweek had made and seeing the wild, fearful look in his lover’s eyes, Craig quickly scooped him up in a tight hug. “Hey, it’s okay, babe. Here, I made dinner. Do you want some coffee to help calm you down?”

Tweek began to shake as Craig carried him inside. Coffee. Yeah, he needed coffee. That would calm him down right away, along with Craig’s awesome (read: shitty, but familiar) home cooking.

Craig helped him sit down on the couch and tilted Tweek’s chin up to examine his hurt face. “You’re a little red, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to bruise,” he said calmly.

God, his monotone voice had this borderline godly way of setting Tweek’s racing heart back on the right track.

Craig pulled away and walked into the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a paper plate loaded with a, frankly, miserable looking grilled cheese sandwich and a fresh, steaming mug of Tweek’s favorite coffee blend.

He set both items down on the coffee table in front of Tweek, then took a seat next to him, watching quietly as the love of his life downed the almost boiling hot liquid in three big gulps, then wolfed down the sad looking sandwich in seconds.

“It really must have been a hard day if you’re going to eat my cooking without complaining like you always do,” Craig marvelled.

“It was good,” Tweek mumbled without thinking. He felt a burning gaze directed at his face and slowly turned his head to meet it.

A large, tan hand darted out, making Tweek flinch for half a second before he felt cool skin against his forehead.

“Are you running a fever or something?” Craig asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Tweek huffed.

“You’re warm.”

“I’m always warm.”

Craig stared hard into Tweek’s eyes, waiting for him to say something. His nose scrunched up ever so slightly when the stubborn blonde didn’t budge.

“You’re making me worried. What happened today?” He whispered.

Tweek made a long noise of discomfort. “It’s work stuff, Craig… I can’t talk about it.”

Craig made a sound, like a low growl, before calming himself down. “Alright then,” he said simply as he pulled away. He stood up and gathered Tweek’s dishes, then brought them into the kitchen.

Tweek’s heart sank as he watched him go. No sex tonight, it seemed. Craig always got angry over this confidentiality stuff. He knew his moodiness would last until at least the next day.

It’d be alright, though, wouldn’t it? Craig could never stay mad for long, and if Tweek followed the instructions given to him by Kenny, this whole situation would blow over in no time. He’d give it a month, then his life should go back to normal. At least, as normal as life could be in a place like South Park.

That’s right, just give it one month, then everything would be okay.


	2. We Need A Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated 05/27/2020

Craig didn’t ask Tweek about what happened at work again that night, but Tweek could tell that his boyfriend was still worried and angry. The two hadn’t spoken since Craig had put away their dishes, and then Craig had decided it would be best to sleep on the couch.

It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if Tweek hadn’t felt like he  _ needed  _ the other’s comforting presence and touch that night. Their king sized bed seemed so cold and empty without his other half there beside him.

The blonde didn’t dare go to wake up his boyfriend, though, in fear of making the man grumpier.

No, instead, he just gathered up his blankets and slept on the floor beside the couch, which only served to make Craig feel awful and guilty the next morning when he woke to find the other sleeping with a scrunched up face beside him.

Their petty argument seemed to end there, as Craig had made them both coffee and some bland, tasteless scrambled eggs as a peace offering, then rubbed Tweek’s back, which was sore from sleeping on the hardwood.

Something still felt off, though. Craig still seemed a bit distant in the sense that they still hadn’t spoken outside of the soft “Thank you” and “You’re welcome” between them after breakfast was made, but since it had only been one night since their little spat- if it could even be called a spat, since there had been no yelling- Tweek decided to put it to the back of his mind. His beloved boyfriend would surely be better with a little more time. 

They cuddled quietly on the couch after Craig had finished giving Tweek his backrub until Tweek finally grew anxious over the silence and broke it.

“So, uh, did you do anything fun at work yesterday?” he asked softly, coughing slightly after his statement as though the awkward attempt at making conversation had left a film in his throat.

Craig frowned as he looked down at Tweek and sighed. “Not really. As usual, Cartman yelled at us at our daily patrol meeting."

“Why was he yelling at you this time?”

“Cause Freedom Pals have a higher hit record on the petty crime of South Park,” Craig smirked. “I’m proud of you, babe.”

“You should really join us instead. Kenny and Timmy won’t yell at you for not arresting more people than Coon and Friends,” Tweek urged, though he knew he was beating a dead horse by saying that to him. They’d had this conversation plenty of times before, and the answer was always the same.

Craig pressed his lips together and stared off intensely at the dark T.V. in front of them. 

After a few long moments, Craig finally gave the answer Tweek had been expecting.

“... You know I can’t do that,”

“Why not? Give me a real reason this time,” Tweek huffed. “You know it’d be better if you switched sides. The Freedom Pals would love you! We’ve been needing a Brutalist! Plus, if you join, we can finally be a real duo and not just the pining rivals the media makes us out to be!”

“Tweek,” Craig said softly, stopping the other’s rant. 

Tweek hadn’t realized that he had gotten loud and had even pulled himself off the couch to act out his words for emphasis. He looked down and bit his lip in embarrassment. 

“Why don’t you join Coon and Friends?” 

Tweek looked back up, a sudden fire in his eyes, his eyebrows knit together tightly in anger over how Craig could have the  _ gall  _ to suggest such a stupid idea. “You know I hate Cartman.”

“I’d protect you from him,” Craig said simply. 

“I wouldn’t be able to handle having him yell at me. I couldn’t stand hearing him gay bash us constantly. He’s untrustworthy and rude and mean, and he’s bad for you, too. I want you to be safe, and I want you to be with me as my partner in crime- er, partner in  _ fighting  _ crime, I mean,” Tweek rambled.

“I don't want to join Freedom Pals if it makes me come home like you did last night,” Craig said smoothly. What a bastard, leading the conversation back to that.

“Craig, I know you’re mad I couldn’t tell you what happened, but really, it’s not what you think-”

“What am I thinking, then?” Craig interrupted, his face blanched and eyes steady as he stared hard at Tweek, searching for something in his face _._

“ARGH! How am I supposed to know?!” Tweek screeched, his voice growing high with panic. He couldn’t let Craig know. He had to keep the secret. He couldn’t lose his job over this.

“You wanna know what I think?” Craig asked, slowly getting up from the couch and stepping toward Tweek, towering over him in an intimidating manner.

Tweek shrunk back. He hated when Craig did this. It wasn’t fair- his giant boyfriend always used his height to get what he wanted, whether it be Tweek’s inner thoughts or his thermos. 

“I think they’re manipulating you. I think the Freedom Pals is sinister in it’s making. They’re trying to set you against me by making you keep secrets that regular couples should share with no problem. They’re trying to keep me from you despite the favor I’m doing by keeping an eye on Cartman-” Craig quickly cut himself off, realizing he’d said too much.

“You’re only with Coon and Friends to keep an eye on Cartman?” Tweek asked incredulously.

Craig took a step back, his normally stoic facade breaking to reveal a sliver of an emotion Tweek couldn’t quite place.

“Craig… what are you not telling me?” Tweek whispered.

“What are  _ you  _ not telling  _ me?”  _ Craig huffed. “I won’t spill unless you do. If I go down, you’re going down with me.”

“Craig, it’s confidential stuff! Telling you means I lose my job!” Tweek huffed.

“So your job is more important than me, now?” 

“I never said that! Don’t be such a baby! You don’t wanna lose your job, either!”

“I’d rather lose my job than you!”

“If we don’t work, we die!”

“So you  _ do  _ think work is more important!” Craig spat.

“Craig, stop it!”

“No! Tell me what happened!”

Tweek growled. “Why do you wanna know so bad? You’re just trying to get me to talk so you can feed it all back to Cartman!”

“I  _ hate  _ that jackass! Why would I give him  _ any  _ sort of leg up against you?!”

“Because no matter how much you claim to love me and that you don’t want to lose me, you still work for my rival fucking team!”

“You don’t know the first fucking thing about what me being with Coon and Friends is doing for your team,” Craig hissed. “Do you seriously not trust me? I’m your  _ boyfriend,  _ Tweek! We should be able to talk about important stuff like this! I want to know what’s bothering you so I can fix it!”

Tweek stared at him for a moment, then looked down at his feet in shame. Craig really did care, and Tweek had just screamed at him for it. Still, he had to stay firm.

“All I can really say... is that this is something you can’t fix.”

Craig scrunched up his nose in anger, quickly turning his back to hide the break in his stone-cold features, but he couldn’t hide how he had bunched his fists up so hard he was shaking.

“Craig…?” Tweek whispered.

“I know I literally just said I don’t want to lose you, but maybe we should take a break,” Craig finally huffed. 

“What? Don’t be stupid! This is just some petty little argument! You just have to accept that there are some things I can’t tell you and it’s over!” Tweek said, his heart rate rising. He knew that little fights like this meant something bigger was going on, but Craig wouldn’t tell him anything and he knew it. Why should he risk his job when his boyfriend wouldn’t do the same thing for him? 

“No, I’m serious,” Craig said, finality in his tone. “I’m tired of the secrets, I’m not joining your group, and I know you won’t join mine. I think we both need some time to decide whether our relationship is more important, or if our jobs are, because I don’t want a relationship with you if you can’t trust me enough to talk about what’s really bothering you, and you don’t deserve a relationship where I can’t do the same.”

Tweek’s heart sank at hearing that. He whimpered pathetically as little tears sprung up into his eyes. 

Craig turned back to look at Tweek, but paused when he saw the tears. His heart sunk deep into his stomach with guilt over his harsh words.

“Listen,” Craig said softly. “It’s not entirely about you and the secrets you’re keeping from me. I have my own fair share of secrets I can’t tell you, and just… I need some time to figure out whether all of this under the table shit is bigger than my trust in you.”

Tweek didn’t seem any calmer at that.

“Tweek,” Craig sighed. “I don’t want to hide anything from you, and I especially don’t want you to hide stuff from me. All I’m saying is we should take a while to think about what’s more important to us.”

“I don’t want to lose you…” Tweek whispered. “But I also don’t want us to keep fighting about stupid stuff all the time.”

“Then you’ll talk to me?” Craig asked.

“Craig, if I do that, I’ll lose my job. If I lose my job for you, then we’ll both be living on the streets.”

“But we’d be together.”

Tweek went quiet at that, then shook his head with a sigh. “Maybe we do need a break.”

Craig let out a long, shaky breath. “Okay.”

Tweek bit his lip, for once in his life, he felt awful that he’d agreed with his boyfriend.

Craig turned toward the door, hiding his face from Tweek so he wouldn’t see the sadness in his eyes as he spoke again. 

“Listen, I’m going to step out for a bit. I’ll stay with Clyde until we both come to our decisions.”

Tweek shook his head. “No, Craig, don’t do that,” he said. “This is your house. It’s under your name-”

“Technically it’s under both of ours.”

“That’s not the point!” Tweek huffed. “You’re the one who bought it. I put most of my money into the stupid base. This is your house more than mine, so I should be the one to go.”

“Where will you stay?” Craig asked.

“I’ll figure something out. If worse comes to worst, I can just sleep at the base. There’s a couple of spare bedrooms there, anyway.”

“I thought the spare bedrooms were there for emergencies only,” Craig pointed out.

“I think this qualifies,” Tweek said. “And if it doesn’t, I’m sure Kenny would be willing to pull some strings for me.”

Craig scrunched up his nose at the mention of Kenny’s name. “Fine. I’m still going out, though.”

“Okay,” Tweek sighed. “I’ll… I’ll try to have my stuff out by the time you get back.”

Craig didn’t say anything to that, simply walking out their- no, his- heavy wooden front door, the screen door following moments later, leaving Tweek all alone in the place he used to call home.

No more relationship, no more house, no more perfect future. 

Tweek quickly wiped at his eyes as he felt big, wet tears spill out over his cheeks. He pulled out his phone and looked through his contacts for anyone he could possibly vent to.

His fingers paused as a particular name was scrolled onto the screen.

Kenny.

Well, who else could he talk to? Craig was going straight to Clyde, and Token was probably tired of Tweek constantly crying on his shoulder whenever he and Craig had a fight. Other than those two, Tweek didn’t really have any other friends.

He clicked on Kenny’s name and puffed out a breath as he began typing out a message.

**[Tweek]: Hey Ken, can you call me when you get the chance?**

He put his phone back in his pocket and began packing as he waited for a response.

He’d gotten his clothes packed along with a few other necessities when his phone began to ring.

Tweek didn’t even have to look at the caller ID to know who it was. He pressed the green answer button and pressed the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Kenny…” he said softly.

_ “Tweek? Hey, man. I know you hate phone calls. What’s up?” _

Tweek’s vision went softly blurry and his eyes stung as the tears he’d wiped away earlier came back with a vengeance. He sniffled a little, whimpering as he forced his words out. “Craig wants to take a break. From me.”

_ “Oh, no, Tweekers, I’m so sorry! Do you want to come over and talk about it?” _

Yeah, actually. Yeah, he did. Kenny was the only person he could tell  _ everything  _ to. Kenny understood all the scary things happening to his body, and Kenny knew all about the rough patches he’d hit with Craig in the recent years. Kenny was the perfect person to go to.

“Please,” Tweek whispered. “Um… I also need a place to stay for a while. Can I stay at the base?”

_ “Why don’t you just stay at my place? If you’re fine with cleaning and helping out a bit with groceries, then I won’t make you pay rent or anything.” _

“Don’t you only have one bedroom?”

_ “Well, yeah, but I’m perfectly fine with letting you have it. I’d be totally cool with kickin’ it on the couch.” _

“Kenny, you know I can’t do that,” Tweek chuckled, sniffling as he brushed the tears from his cheeks. “I don’t know how long I’d be staying. I can’t take your bed.”

_ “We’ll work something out if it ends up being more than a few weeks. Get your butt over here and let’s talk.” _

Tweek smiled. Kenny really was a good friend. 

He agreed and told him he’d be over in half an hour, he just had to finish packing. After that, they said their goodbyes and Tweek began packing faster. 

He was done in no time, then out the door with his backpack slung over his shoulders and a coffee maker delicately cradled in his arms as he made his way to Kenny’s apartment.


	3. What's a Wine Cooler?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated on 05/27/2020

As it was every time he had been there before, Kenny’s apartment was frankly unremarkable. It was in the bad part of town, and he had a shitty landlord who refused to do any work on the place, so it looked to be falling apart, and likely was.

The exposed wires that peeked out at every corner from crumbling drywall made Tweek unbelievably nervous. Anyone could brush up against the wires at any point and get electrocuted, and he was sure Kenny had been, at some point. 

Poorness and poverty had stricken the young adult even though he had a decent-paying job. Most of his money went out to his family so he could help his mom and his sister, Karen, as they were still stuck living with the abusive, jobless, piece of shit husband and father who kept them trapped and living in that rat infested dump. 

Kenny always hoped that the money he sent them was actually getting received by them instead of being pocketed by his sperm giver. Nonetheless, he was doing the best he could with what he had. 

At least he had furniture, ragged and torn apart as it may be, he had a pull-out couch with suspicious stains all over the mattress, a small fridge that looked like it hadn’t been decently cleaned since it was made, a color television with a crack across the screen, and a recliner with springs sticking out of it. His coffee table looked sticky, and the stain on it seemed to be worn from numerous drinks having been spilled.

Despite all this, it all came together to be what the blonde man called home, and he was proud of it.

Still, though, Tweek was a little nervous about staying over. The bad repair of the house could lead to him getting some sort of strange disease, or dying from those dangerous wires, or the entire building could fall apart if he dared to step wrong on the squeaky, creaky floorboards. 

In fact, Tweek was starting to have second thoughts about staying over. This place was unsafe. The base was much nicer, cleaner, and safer.

Before he could silently back out the door, though, Kenny emerged from the kitchen with a big, bright smile. “There you are!” he exclaimed. “What’s got you so tied up? Come on in, I’ll get us some beer.”

The offer was nice. Extremely generous, even, for Kenny. Beer was a luxury he could only afford once or twice a month, but Tweek knew very well that he couldn’t handle beer. He didn’t like the taste, and half a can made him dizzy.

“Oh, uh, that’s alright, I’m not a big fan of beer, so it’s all yours,” Tweek said as he stepped fully inside and shut the door behind him. He made sure to lock it, just in case some armed druggie busted in looking for a fix.

Yeah, it was  _ that  _ part of town.

“I know you’re not a big fan, but I bought something new for you to try,” Kenny said as he disappeared back into the kitchen. Tweek could hear cabinets being opened and glasses clinking together as he tentatively tiptoed through the living room to the rickety couch.

He was anything but quiet as the floorboards groaned like they were being tortured with every step, and the rusty springs of the couch squeaked like hundreds of dying mice as he sat down.

When he was finally seated, Kenny came out with two tall, clean glasses, one filled with a bubbly pink liquid, and the other filled with a golden liquid. They both had been chilled, as was apparent through the condensation gathering on the outside of the glasses, and Tweek was given the pink one.

“It looks so girly,” Tweek commented as he sniffed at the rim of the glass, snorting just slightly when the bubbles from the carbonation went up his nose. It didn’t even smell like alcohol, it smelled like a strawberry soda.

“You don’t mind it, do you?” Kenny asked. “It’s a mixed berry drink, called a wine cooler. There’s three more of them, if you like it. I won’t drink the stuff.”

“Why not?” Tweek asked, taking a little sip. It tasted a bit strong. Unlike the smell had indicated, it was definitely alcohol. The slight burning in his throat and stomach proved it. Nonetheless, it tasted sweet, and he liked it.

“It’s a little too sweet for me. I like my beer better,” Kenny explained, throwing an arm over Tweek’s shoulders as he held his glass in the other hand, taking a long drink.

Tweek took a few big gulps from his own glass, finding that he actually, really liked it a lot.

Within seconds, the both of them had finished their first drinks, and Tweek’s face had grown heated, but he wasn’t dizzy.

“Want more?” Kenny asked.

“Yeah, I’ll drink the rest of those if you don’t want them,” Tweek said.

Kenny nodded as he stood up. He walked out of the room and came back with both containers, pink bottles and his own cans of beer.

Kenny set them both down on the coffee table and cracked open two of his cans, then poured them into his glass.

Tweek simply set his glass aside so he could drink his stuff from the bottles they came in.

“So, tell me what happened,” Kenny said after Tweek had gone halfway through his second drink.

“There’s really not much to say,” Tweek sighed as he put the bottle down. “Craig just said he’s tired of the secrets and we both need to be apart so we can think about whether our relationship is more important than confidentiality.”

Kenny frowned at that. “He’s pushing you to talk about work stuff when you can’t? What a douche,” he said.

“Don’t call him that. You’d want to know, too, if you were in his shoes,” Tweek said, taking another long drink. Once he pulled the bottle from his lips, the room seemed to shift a little. It seemed that that did it, he was drunk, but there was no way he was going to stop drinking now, not after he found something he actually enjoyed.

“But I’m  _ not  _ in his shoes,” Kenny pointed out. “And you’re wrong. I’d never push you to say stuff you’re bound to keep secret.”

“Are you sure about that? Apparently I came home pretty messed up after our talk yesterday. Craig was really worried, and it really hurt him that I couldn’t talk about it,” Tweek sighed.

“It should’ve been the end of it when you said it was confidential,” Kenny said after a moment of thought. “Of course anyone would be worried if their lover came home like you did, but he needs to respect you and your work and quit pushing the matter. He was being a jerk.”

“He was being  _ protective, _ ” Tweek defended, but a part of his heart seemed to agree with Kenny’s statement. If Craig really cared about him, why did he have to push it so far? Why couldn’t he just  _ respect  _ that Tweek couldn’t talk about it and call it the end of the matter? Why’d he have to make such a big deal out of it? Was it really worth breaking up over?

Kenny flicked Tweek’s temple to snap him out of his thoughts. “You know I’m right. You just want to defend him because you love him.”

“He loves me, too,” Tweek sighed.

“Ah, yes, he loves you so much that he pushed you away,” Kenny said, scrunching up his nose.

“Listen, can- can we not talk about this anymore? I’m still hurting,” Tweek huffed as he finished off the rest of his second bottle. He reached for his third.

“What can I do to make it better?” Kenny asked. “I get shit-talking Craig probably wasn’t the way to go, but I still care about you and I don’t want you to be sad anymore.”

Tweek made a small noise as he cracked the cap off the new bottle and set it on the coffee table, his mind busy with the thoughts of how anyone could make it better. “I just want to feel loved again. I’m tired of Craig being mad at me all the time for stupid little things like this. I get he cares, but he’s been so moody lately.”

“Lately? I think you mean always. How often have you come to me or Token about your fights? How many breaks has Craig wanted in the past couple of years? I can’t help but feel like the guy is overwhelmed about something, and he’s just taking it out on you.”

Tweek winced. Kenny’s words stung. “Do you think it’s my fault? Am I the one bringing us down?” he asked.

“Why would you think that? You’re kinda perfect for him.”

“He never even takes me out on dates anymore. Yeah, we cuddle and kiss and have sex like a regular couple, but… well, it really seems like he’s lost a lot of his interest in me. It’s like he  _ wants  _ me to get bored or fed up with him,” Tweek explained. 

Kenny pulled his arm out from behind Tweek’s head, then took Tweek’s chin between his fingers and gently urged his neck to turn so they could look at each other.

“I’d never treat you like that,” he said softly.

Tweek’s cheeks heated up at the words and sweet touch. “... Ken, you know I’m with-”

“You’re not with him anymore. He wanted a break, that’s what he’s getting. If he can go around looking for a new man to make him feel better, so can you.”

Tweek quickly pushed Kenny’s hand away. “He’s not looking for a new man.”

“How do you know?”

“He’s with Clyde.”

“Is he?”

“Don’t do this to me, Kenny. Don’t make me doubt him. I just-”

“You just want to feel loved again, right?” Kenny interrupted. “That’s what you said earlier.”

Tweek clammed up. He wasn’t drunk enough for this. His hand darted out for his open bottle and he took a greedy swig.

The moment he pulled it away for air, a hand met his wrist, causing him to jump and drop the bottle to the floor, glass shattering and liquid spilling everywhere.

“God, I’m so sor-!”

Tweek’s panicked yelling was quickly cut off by a pair of lips meeting his own.


	4. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's your smut, sinners. Yes, it's relevant to the plot.
> 
> Updated 05/27/2020

Tweek couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He was frozen in place as Kenny kissed him, the hand he’d used to touch Tweek’s wrist joining in tangent with the other to lightly grip Tweek’s shoulders.

The kiss seemed to last for an eternity, but it was likely only a few seconds before Kenny pulled away, his eyes wide open. He stared at Tweek intensely, his bright blue eyes seemed to see directly into Tweek’s soul.

“Why… Why did you…?” Tweek started, but his shock kept him from forming more words. 

Kenny got the gist, though. “I wanted to show you-” he stroked Tweek’s arms lovingly, his large, warm hands working hard to keep Tweek steady and calm- “just how much I like you.”

Tweek bit his lip and looked down at the floor. “But… Craig…”

“Just forget about him for right now, okay? I want you,” Kenny whispered. “I want you to feel loved again. Is that so wrong?”

Tweek gripped at Kenny’s sleeves tightly, like they were a lifeline. His sharp, chewed-up fingernails dug into Kenny’s skin through the cloth. A single question popped into his mind.

“Why me?”

“What?”

“Why me?” Tweek asked again. “I’m nothing special. I’m shaky, and my nose is crooked, and I scream a lot without meaning to. I’m anxious about everything and I keep bringing up Craig like it’s going to chase you off, but it  _ doesn’t,  _ and I… I just can’t understand why you’d want me over anyone else. I’m just… me.”

“Just you is all I could ask for,” Kenny said simply.

“But  _ why?!”  _ Tweek squawked. “You could have anyone you want! You’re hot and nice and everything anyone could ever ask for!”

Kenny scrunched up his nose and pulled Tweek flush against his chest. “You really aren’t giving yourself much credit here. I can’t believe you don’t realize just how perfect you are.”

Tweek’s eyes went wide at that. “I… What?”

“Everything about you is just… cute. Your wild hair, your crooked nose, your coffee addiction, how needy you can get when you’re anxious… The way you talk and jitter makes you unique, and funny in a way, and honestly? I’ve been wanting to go after you since I first found out you were gay.”

Tweek’s hands moved from Kenny’s arms to instead ball up the fabric against his chest. “I thought you liked Butters.”

“Him, too. I kinda have a thing for cute blondes.”

Tweek went red at that.

“Come on, Tweek. Won’t you give me a chance?” Kenny urged. “I want you to be happy.”

Tweek slowly, shakily pulled away, his hands slowly releasing Kenny’s shirt, leaving the fabric more wrinkled than it had been before. It figured that Kenny wouldn’t have a clothing iron, but that just made Tweek feel bad about the damage he had done to that poor shirt.

“... If I say no more, we stop right away,” Tweek said quietly, his gaze directed anywhere but at Kenny.

“So it’s a yes?” Kenny asked, eyes sparkling.

Tweek nodded, still not making eye contact.

It all happened so quickly, Tweek almost wasn’t able to process it. Immediately following his agreement, Kenny had scooped him up and locked their lips together again, kissing him deeper and more passionately than Craig had in a long time, not that that was bad… Craig had always been the type for more soft and sweet kisses.

A choked noise escaped Tweek’s throat as his hands slid up Kenny’s arms and up to his head to thread through the other’s blonde hair.

Kenny moaned softly before pulling away from Tweek’s lips, moving down to kiss and suck at his neck instead.

Tweek pushed him away right then. “No marks.”

“You’re no fun,” Kenny chuckled.

“I’m serious!” Tweek huffed, scrunching up his nose.

“Alright, alright. I’ll be nice,” Kenny promised. He flicked Tweek’s nose affectionately.

“I also don’t want to have sex on this couch. I feel like it’s gonna break.”

“Bedroom it is, then,” Kenny agreed. He stood up, gathering Tweek in his arms with ease, and carried him through a side door into his room.

Thankfully, Kenny’s bedroom was a bit cleaner than the rest of his house. He’d made a smart decision in buying a brand new mattress, expensive as it was, but at least Tweek didn’t have to worry about catching anything from it.

The sheets were waterproof, probably because Kenny had tons of sex regularly, but Tweek found them uncomfortable after Kenny had dropped him unceremoniously on top of them.

His thoughts of discomfort went away when Kenny hovered above him, straddling him as he stripped off his shirt, showing his beautiful, freckled shoulders and scarred chest and stomach. He-

Tweek backtracked immediately. Scars?!

His fingers darted out to touch a huge, lightly faded puncture wound in the middle of Kenny’s chest. “Oh, god, Kenny…! What happened?!” he squeaked.

“It’s an old wound, don’t worry about it,” Kenny said quickly. “I don’t talk about them much, especially not during sex.”

Hot shame spread over Tweek’s body. Had he ruined the mood? Oh, god, he was so stupid!

“What’s with that face?” Kenny asked.

“I was rude. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to make it awkward-”

Kenny pressed a finger to Tweek’s lips. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone asks when they see them. Maybe I’ll tell you about them later, but not now.”

Tweek nodded at that. That’s right, now wasn’t the time to hear about them.

Kenny began undoing the uneven buttons on Tweek’s shirt. He got it open, then tweaked Tweek’s nipples gently, making the smaller man shiver. 

Tweek pulled Kenny down for another sloppy kiss. God, Kenny was so good with his mouth. Craig was always gentle, too gentle, even, and hated when their sessions got messy, but this… Well, obviously Kenny didn’t mind a little mess.

Hands trailed up and down each other’s bodies, Tweek found the slight softness to Kenny’s abs compared to Craig’s so endearing. Craig was like a rock, but Kenny… Kenny felt human to the touch.

Tweek chastised himself mentally over that. He really had to stop comparing the two. It wasn’t about Craig right now, it was about Kenny. The only reason Craig should be on his mind would be for pleasure and pleasure only.

With that in mind, Tweek tugged at Kenny’s waistband. “Can I suck you off?” he asked.

“I won’t argue with that,” Kenny smirked as he undid his pants. He reached for a bottle of lube that stood proudly in the open on his bed stand. “But I get to play with you while you do it.”

Tweek’s cheeks flushed at that. He really wasn’t used to this sort of talk. Craig was always quiet- ah, there he went again.

Tweek shook himself a little to jar any more distracting thoughts about Craig out of his mind, then undid his pants and stripped them off along with his underwear.

Kenny sat back on his knees and slicked his fingers up with lube as he waited for Tweek to finish undressing.

Tweek crawled over and looked Kenny right in the eyes as he licked his lips. Now it was his time to shine. In one swift movement, Tweek had Kenny’s hard shaft in his hands and the tip in his mouth.

That’s right, now, what was it that felt good again? Oh, right. 

Tweek swirled his tongue around the head while his hand slowly stroked the shaft, then pressed the tip of his tongue to Kenny’s slit, lightly toying with it while his hands moved up and down, slick with spit. 

A small squeak escaped his occupied mouth as Kenny slipped a finger inside him, then a second right away.

“You’re pretty loose,” Kenny smirked. “Does Craig like to use you up a lot?”

Tweek pulled away with a slick  _ pop.  _ “He’s just… big,” he said.

“Oh?” Kenny seemed intrigued even as his fingers kept working, making sure Tweek was all wet inside. “Do you like big?”

“A little…” Tweek admitted. He bit his lip coyly as he gave Kenny’s member a few quick, loose-gripped strokes. “But I like yours, too.”

Kenny chuckled. “Size isn’t everything. I promise I’ll make you feel good.”

Tweek’s own member twitched at the prospect, and he quickly returned to licking and sucking, finally taking Kenny’s whole length down his throat.

It wasn’t anything special, really. Kenny was slightly larger than average at best. Craig had always been a monster, probably considering the fact that he was so fucking tall.

“God, just like that,” Kenny hissed, stroking Tweek’s hair with his free hand. “What a good little slut.”

Tweek made a soft noise as his dick throbbed needily at the praise and the degrading name used so perfectly together. They hadn’t even gotten to the good part yet and Tweek was more turned on than he had ever been in his life. Why couldn’t Craig be more like this?

His thoughts of his ex-boyfriend quickly dissipated when Kenny’s fingers suddenly hooked against that sweet spot inside of Tweek, and he moaned lowly as sparks shot across his vision.

“Fuck, okay, get off,” Kenny said urgently, panting.

Thinking he was in trouble, Tweek immediately pulled away, looking panicked, but that panic vanished in the place of pleasure when Kenny pulled him in for a hot, needy kiss, their tongues swirling together messily.

When they finally pulled away for air, Kenny turned Tweek around and pressed his chest into the bed. “Fuck, Tweek. No one’s ever made me want to cum so fast,” Kenny huffed.

Tweek couldn’t help but snicker softly at the prospect. “Makes sense. I never would’ve taken you for a minute man.”

A harsh  _ smack  _ sounded in the room as Kenny spanked him. Tweek yelped as he felt the sting and turned his head to glare at Kenny. “H-Hey!”

“Don’t be so angry. You were practically begging for it,” Kenny said with a devilish smirk. “How else am I supposed to punish you for being naughty?”

Tweek huffed and planted his nose directly into the nearest pillow, his cheeks burning bright red.

“Here, how about, before we start, you tell me what you like,” Kenny offered as a way of asking for forgiveness.

“I… I like your dirty talk. And I like being praised. And… and maybe I liked the spanking, just a little,” Tweek admitted. He rubbed his legs together pathetically, trying to get some of the sweet, sweet friction his hungry cock was weeping for.

Kenny grinned. “Anything else?”

“Please, Kenny, just do your own thing. I need it-!” Tweek whined.

Kenny nodded at that, seeming pleased as he lined himself up with Tweek’s hole. He pushed his aching member in slowly, gently, getting Tweek used to the feeling before finally thrusting at a slow pace, staying sweet and careful despite Tweek’s begging for more. In fact, each whimper and plea only got him a shower of kisses across his back. 

This wasn’t just some mindless sex. This was love. Kenny was making love to him, and honestly, nothing in his life had ever felt better.

“You’re so fucking sexy, Tweek,” Kenny praised as he ran his fingers up and down Tweek’s back, making the smaller blonde shiver and whimper. 

“Kenny… Kenny…!” Was all Tweek could seem to whimper out as skilled movements overwhelmed his body to the point where he felt that he was climaxing with every thrust. 

God, Kenny was so  _ good.  _ Craig was sweet and gentle during sex, yes, but their sessions were never nearly as pleasurable and  _ soul-achingly loving  _ like this was. 

Even during sex, Tweek had never felt as close to and as loved by a person as he did now with Kenny.

They reached their climaxes quickly, far too quickly for Tweek’s liking. It had been the best sex he’d ever had, and his heart wanted more of it, but unfortunately, his dick seemed too satisfied to go on.

Tweek collapsed into his own sticky mess with a soft groan as Kenny pulled out of him. His warm body pressed close to Tweek's side, and long fingers combed through Tweek’s wild mess of a head of hair as they both quietly came down from their orgasmic high.

Tweek, of course, was the first one to break their long silence. 

“Hey, Kenny?” he asked, his face still buried in a pillow.

“Yeah, Tweekers?”

“Do you really like me?” He couldn’t get past the feeling of guilt that ebbed away at his stomach. He felt like he had cheated on Craig, even though they were taking a break from each other, and he needed to know that this wasn’t just some mindless, heartless fuck on Kenny’s part.

Kenny couldn’t hold back a soft laugh. “Yes, Tweek, I really do like you,” he promised.

“...” Tweek thought for a moment. “What does this mean for us?”

“Well, do you want to take it further and be my boyfriend?”

He wanted to. Tweek  _ really  _ wanted to, but he couldn’t get Craig out of his mind. They’d been together for years. Could he really just throw all that away just because he had some good sex? To add to it, he was still slightly drunk. He couldn’t make such a big decision on the spot.

“... I need time to think.”

“Cool with me. I’d understand if you don’t want to let go of Craig just yet,” Kenny shrugged.

“Will you still let me stay here if I think I still want to be with Craig?”

“Tweek, I’ll let you stay here as long as you need, whether it means you choose me or not.”

Tweek was satisfied with that answer. “Thank you… Also, I’m getting you new furniture.”

“What?”

“All of your furniture needs to go. The only thing that can stay is this bed. I’m getting you nicer things.”

“Tweek, you don’t need to do that-”

“No way, dude,” Tweek said, finally pulling his face out of the pillow and turning around so he could face Kenny again. “If I’m staying here and you’re only making me pay for groceries, I have plenty of money that can go to new stuff. And also, if we’re going to think about maybe being in a relationship, then we need a better couch.”

Kenny pouted at that. “What’s wrong with my couch?”

“It’s rusty springs penetrate me deeper than you ever will.”

“Fuck. Fine.”

And that was that. 

Maybe Tweek could live with this. Maybe he and Craig wouldn’t get back together after all, but that was fine. Tweek still had someone who loved him and could support him emotionally, sexually, and romantically. No matter what the outcome, Tweek would be happy, whether it be sooner or later.

Now his only hope was that it would stay that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


	5. Get Reck'd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated 05/27/2020
> 
> Still not quite happy with the way this chapter turned out, but I don't think there's any way to fix it at this point.

_ “Tweek.” _

_ Tweek looked around quickly to see who called him. He noticed he seemed to be back at home. Since when did he go back to Craig’s house? Did he forget his coffee maker or something? No, no, he was pretty sure he’d packed it. Tweek could never forget something as important and precious to him as his coffee maker. _

_ “Tweek!” The voice came again, much louder this time. It sounded so familiar…  _

_ A huge figure stepped before him, giant compared to Tweek’s small stature, which only seemed to shrink in the shadow that loomed over his person. _

_ “Tweek, what are you doing?”  _

_ Tweek finally looked up to see who it was who was talking to him. It was Craig, his normally deadpan face distorted with anger as he looked down at him. _

_ “What. Are. You. Doing?” Craig repeated slowly. _

_ Tweek gulped. Had he done something wrong? “I-I’m just sitting here!” he said quickly.  _

_ “Who is that?” Craig seethed as he thrust a finger in the direction of Tweek’s right side. _

_ Tweek quickly turned his head to see, and noticed it was Kenny beside him, his arm around Tweek’s shoulders in a protective, loving fashion. _

_ “What is he doing here?” Craig hissed. “In our house, on our couch, with you?” _

_ “I love him,” Tweek responded, then quickly slapped his hands over his mouth. Had he really just said that in front of Craig? _

_ Without a word, Kenny stood up and stepped in front of Tweek, his arms spread out to the sides, leaving him wide open. _

_ That’s when the carnage started.  _

_ In one swift movement, Craig’s fist locked with Kenny’s jaw, sending him reeling to the side, landing flat on the floor. He didn’t make a move to get up, but that didn’t stop Craig’s rampage as he got on top of the blonde and began pummeling him mercilessly, not stopping until blood had pooled all over the floor, and Kenny’s face was nothing more than a meaty, mashed up pulp. _

_ Tweek had heard screaming during the entire ordeal, but didn’t realize it had been coming from him until Craig pulled away, spatters of blood staining his strong jawline and “Red Racer” t-shirt. _

_ He began walking toward Tweek, the little blonde helpless to stop him or even run, as he seemed to be trapped on the couch, his body frozen in place, even his mouth had seemed to stop working as his screams were cut off abruptly. What was happening? _

_ Craig knelt in front of Tweek, cupping the younger man’s cheeks lovingly. “No one else can have you. You’re mine,” he whispered, then leaned forward, kissing Tweek’s chapped lips sweetly. _

_ Tweek couldn’t move. He couldn’t push Craig away. He was so frozen he couldn’t even shake. _

_ Craig slowly pulled back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’ll never let him have you. I’ll never let him have you. I’ll kill him over and over until he finally gets the message. You. Are. Mine. Understand?” _

_ “I understand…” Tweek said, his throat loosening just enough to breathe the words out. _

_ “Remember this when you wake. Remember… me,” Craig murmured as he stood back up.  _

_ Tweek’s world began to shift and spin in a sickening way before everything fell to black. _

* * *

Tweek shot up in bed suddenly, his eyes wild and breathing ragged as he looked around frantically for Craig.

He heard a soft groan from beside him, then felt strong arms tighten around his waist. “Bad dream…?” Kenny asked sleepily. 

“I can’t do this. I should leave,” Tweek said quickly as his breathing grew out of control. The edges of his vision darkened ever so slightly as he started to hyperventilate.

The statement jolted Kenny fully awake. He sat up slowly, his arms pulling away from Tweek’s waist, but one hand slid down to hold the other blonde’s. “What do you mean? Why?” he asked.

“I messed up. I messed up bad. We never should have had sex. Craig’s never going to forgive me, and I’m scared he’s gonna come after you,” Tweek said between his sporadic breaths.

Kenny looked at him with soft eyes and a gentle, knowing smile as he pulled the smaller man into his arms. “Tweekers, you know I can fend for myself. Plus, I don’t think Craig’s that kind of guy,” he tried to reassure him. “He’ll hear you out. If you want, you can blame everything on me. I’ll play the asshole who tried to steal you away. It wouldn’t be entirely wrong.”

Tweek made a soft noise of disagreement. “That’s not fair to you. God, I’m awful. I think I really ruined everything,” he whimpered.

“You’re not awful, Tweek. You and Craig are on a break. You didn’t cheat on him, and you didn’t betray him, you just had some fun since you’re finally open to do that,” Kenny said.

The words were reassuring, sure, but Tweek still couldn’t stop the ever spiraling thoughts of  _ “You fucked up! You fucked up!” _ as his mind stayed riddled with guilt over sleeping with Kenny. Yeah, he and Craig were taking a break from each other, but that didn’t stop the icky feeling deep inside Tweek’s gut that screamed that this wasn’t right.

“Gah! I rushed it! I messed up! Craig’s never going to love me again after this!” Tweek panicked. 

“Does that really matter when you have me now?” Kenny asked, almost bitterly.

“What if it doesn’t work out between us?!” Tweek squawked. “What if you end up realizing I’m not as good as you think I am and go after Butters instead?! What if Craig hates me forever for doing all this and I end up all alone again?!”

Kenny squeezed Tweek’s hand, trying to steady him and pull him from his thoughts. “Tweek, I’m not going to leave you. Chill out for a second.”

Tweek looked at him with watery eyes, but was finally quiet.

“Don’t you think I’m possibly the best thing for you right now?” Kenny pointed out. “You can tell me anything, we’ve been friends for years, I know about your new health problems and Craig can’t. Currently, you have a roof over your head, plans for the future, and a guy who likes you a hell of a lot, while Craig’s out doing his own thing because he’s salty over your job.”

“Craig and I have been together since we were  _ nine,  _ Kenny. How can I just drop him like this? I have to- I’ve gotta- I’ve gotta do  _ something!  _ I have to at least  _ try  _ to win him back!” Tweek sobbed.

“Is he more important than your job?” Kenny asked. “We both know the only way you’ll get him back is if you tell him he’s more important than our secrets. You’d have to tell him everything, and then what? Freedom Pals will have to label you as a traitor. We’d have to kick you out.”

Tweek screeched. “GAH! I can’t lose my benefits! I can’t get fired! How else am I gonna afford my medication?! What about my coffee?! What about the stuff about my health?!”

“Listen, Tweek, if you really want to try to win Craig back, I won’t stop you, but if you want to keep everything together, you have to tell him you love him, but the Freedom Pal’s information you were given is confidential and he can’t hear it. If Craig really loves you, he’ll respect that, and then you’ll have the best of both worlds,” Kenny said.

“But… But what if Craig doesn’t like that? What if he tells me he still loves me, but we can’t be together unless I talk to him about work? RGH! What if he tells me he hates me and I need to stay out of his life forever?!”

“Craig would never say he hates you,” Kenny reassured him. “But if any of that happens, you always have me, right?”

Tweek bit his lip. Of course he did. He couldn’t lie to himself and say that this night with Kenny wasn’t one of the best he’d had in a long, long time, but still… Letting go of Craig would hurt big time.

“Why don’t you text him and talk to him tomorrow?” Kenny suggested. “I think it’d do some good. If it ends up not working out between you two, it’ll at least give you some closure.”

Tweek puffed out a long breath and nodded. “Okay… Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Kenny.”

“It’s no problem,” he said with a soft smile as he handed Tweek his phone off the nightstand.

Tweek unlocked it, then opened up his messages to find Craig’s name, which was just under Kenny’s and Clyde’s in his recent messages.

Tweek couldn’t help but breathe a soft laugh as he saw a preview of Clyde’s texts. It seemed he was really worried about his and Craig’s fight. How sweet.

Finally, he clicked on Craig’s name and shot him a text, his shaky fingers constantly needing to go back to press the delete button so he could fix his typos.

**[Tweek]: Craig, I think we need to talk. Can we go out for coffee in the morning?**

Tweek wasn’t expecting a response from him anytime soon. It was half past two in the morning, so it’d be crazy for Craig to be awake. Of course the guy was a morning person, but Tweek didn’t believe anyone was  _ that  _ much of a morning person.

He gave his phone to Kenny, who set it back onto the nightstand and pulled Tweek back into his arms. “There. Let’s sleep now. That talk with Craig is a situation for when you’re rested.”

Tweek nodded as he snuggled up against Kenny’s chest, the sinking feeling he’d had in his tummy when he woke up finally dissipating at the comforting hold. Maybe it really would be alright if Craig didn’t want him anymore. After all, Kenny was here.

Still, he had a coffee date in the morning. Remembering the text, Tweek’s eyes flew back open and his mind began to spiral again, making that sinking feeling in his gut come back full force.

He didn’t get any more sleep that night, instead he lay awake with his own scary thoughts until the light of the flickering street lights outside was replaced with the gleam of the morning sun, but Tweek didn’t dare move until he heard his phone vibrate with a new text, arriving at seven on the dot.

Tweek nearly jumped over Kenny to get to snatch up his phone, desperate to read the message just as he’d received it.

The taller blonde stayed dead asleep, though, thankfully enough, and Tweek shakily opened up the new text from Craig.

**[Craig]: Can you meet me at your parent’s coffee shop in an hour?**

Tweek’s fingers quickly typed away at the screen as he gave his messy-looking affirmative. Lack of sleep had made him uncaring of his typos, though it was a simple “Yes.”

He slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Kenny, and walked into the man’s small, moldy bathroom to take a quick shower, though he was sure that with the quality of the water being the way it was, he didn’t come out any cleaner when he finished than when he had gone in.

With a clean towel around his waist, Tweek dug through his bag and pulled out a simple green sweater and dark jeans to slip on over his Freedom Pals boxers, gifted to him by a marketing company who wanted some free commercialing. Tweek hadn’t argued- he was a slut for new underwear. His always ended up getting stolen, or lost, as his mother claimed.

Finally ready, Tweek silently slipped out the front door, feeling guilty he wasn’t able to lock it from outside, as he didn’t have a key yet. He shot a text to Kenny about where he was going and that he’d keep him updated, then started off for his parent’s coffee shop.

He ended up being half an hour early, and his mother roped him into helping her open. On any regular day, Tweek would have found it a nuisance, but right now, he enjoyed having something to do to keep his mind occupied from Craig.

His mother asked him about his plans for the day, which made Tweek twitch with anxiety as he set to making muffins and bagels for the breakfast hours. He told her that he and Craig had had another fight and were meeting up soon to hopefully resolve it, then started up the coffee maker to brew himself his favorite Sunrise Brew. When all was done, he found himself a seat in the farthest booth from the door, coffee mug in hand, with a few minutes to spare as he waited for Craig.

After their short conversation about Craig, Tweek’s mom had assured him that she would take the bagels and muffins out of the oven when they were done so nothing would disturb them.

All that was left was to wait. Tweek checked his phone. Three minutes to nine. Three minutes until Craig arrived. Kenny still hadn’t texted him back. Tweek was starting to have second thoughts about this whole ordeal.

He ran a speech through his head, revised it, then scrapped it and started a new one as he sipped at his coffee. Oh, Jesus, could he really plan out their whole conversation? He didn’t think any amount of preparing, planning, or scripting could make him ready.

Two minutes later, at eight fifty-nine, Craig walked through the front door in his normal getup, blue jacket, black shirt, worn jeans, and tennis shoes. He scanned the cafe slowly for Tweek, eyes stopping once he spotted the blonde staring back at him nervously, eyes wide.

Craig nodded to let him know he’d be there in a moment, then stepped up to the counter, where he ordered himself an orange juice and a bagel, then walked over to the booth Tweek was sitting at.

Craig had never liked the taste of coffee, though he always claimed to love the smell, so it was no surprise when the dark haired man leaned forward and took a deep whiff of Tweek’s half-empty cup before settling back and taking a sip of his orange juice. It was an odd little habit of his, but it was something Tweek found endearing, almost like they were sharing a cup.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Craig asked as he set his orange juice down. He cast a bored look to the counter where Tweek’s father waited. It seemed he was eager for his bagel, if Tweek knew Craig at all.

Oh god, he made an entire script for what he was going to say to Craig, but it all vanished the second the man spoke. He couldn’t do this! It was too much pressure!

Craig raised an eyebrow at his ex-boyfriend. “Calm down, babe. Just say what you’re thinking,” he urged.

Oh god, okay. Right, he could do that. Maybe he could just repeat the lines like Kenny had said. No, no, he needed to say it the way he would have without any help. Plagiarizing was wrong, whether it be written or spoken! 

“Honey?” Craig asked, snapping Tweek back into reality.

He made a loud, strained noise of frustration. The words were going to have to come out sooner or later. Best start out with whatever he could force out of his stubborn voice box.

“I still love you,” Tweek said quickly, his face instantly going red. What a way to start. “But… but I need you to respect me and my boundaries. I can’t tell you about confidential stuff from work. I’d lose my job, and I want to be able to help support us.”

Craig sighed. “Well, that’s not what I wanted to hear.”

“I know it’s tough… but… I don’t want to lose the two best things in my life, my job and you… and… a-and I just hope you’ll be able to understand and we can stay together,” Tweek said, new hope in his heart as Craig seemed to be taking it surprisingly well.

Craig was silent for what felt like an eternity. Tweek grew jittery as he finished off his coffee. He debated going for another cup when Craig finally gave his answer.

“I still love you, too,” Craig said softly, causing Tweek’s heart to flutter. “But… I told you my terms. I really don’t think we can have the good, healthy relationship both of us want with all of these secrets weighing us down.”

Tweek’s previously soaring heart dropped like a boulder deep into his stomach, where it festered and churned like a tab of cyanide. Tweek felt sick. This wasn’t really the end, was it? This had to be a joke, right? What if it was karma, sent down from the heavens to punish him for being an unfaithful brat?

“Maybe someday it can change. Maybe we can work through this all later on, but right now, it just hurts that I can’t help you. It hurts that you can’t trust me enough to talk to me. It hurts that you like your job more than you like me,” Craig said.

“I never said that!” Tweek interjected. “I said I love both you  _ and  _ my job, but I’d choose you any day!”

“Then why aren’t you choosing me now?” Craig huffed.

“It’s impossible! I can’t lose my income and live with you! We’d never be able to support ourselves!”

“Why not?”

“Who in their right mind would want to hire me?!” Tweek hissed. “The only valid job experience I have is when I was working in this coffee shop in high school. I have no college education, no skill set, and any job that  _ might  _ hire me is going to pay me minimum wage with no added benefits. How am I supposed to pay for my medical stuff without benefits?! Minimum wage won’t cut it in this day and age! I can’t rely on you for everything! You won’t even marry me, so I’d be fending for myself!”

“We’re still too young for marriage,” Craig said, ever rational as he was. “You know I could help you with your expenses.”

“So you want to dish out half a grand out your ass every month so I can see my psychiatrist and counselor while also paying for my meds?” Tweek hissed. “On top of rent and utilities and groceries? I’ll barely be able to afford to  _ breathe  _ in this capitalist society! Can you really carry me on your back when you can barely support yourself?”

Craig paused at that. Put in that perspective, it really wasn’t all that ideal. “... Maybe you’re right.”

Tweek gulped, standing up so he could get himself another cup of coffee. This had been a bad idea. He regretted ever coming here. 

He got his refill and returned to the table, hoping that had given Craig enough time to think about his next statement.

“When you put it that way, what I want for us and what you want for us will never really work out, huh?” Craig sighed.

Tweek paused midway between taking a drink, his hands and cup hovering halfway to his mouth. “What do you mean?” he asked softly, hoping that Craig would say something other than what he dreaded to hear.

“I mean, neither of us are going to get what we really want if we stay together. Maybe we should just call it quits.”

It felt like Tweek’s heart had stopped. Really? Just like that, they were done? After all these years, just because Tweek wanted to care for his own health and help with expenses and groceries and the like with a job that actually gave him the financial freedom to do so, Craig wanted to leave him?! That wasn’t right! That wasn’t _fair!_

Tweek set his cup down as carefully as he could. The boiling hot liquid kept spilling over his hands from how much he had been shaking. For some reason, it seemed hotter than it normally was. The ceramic made a sharp noise as it clinked against the counter.

“Now Tweek, you’re a customer right now. If you break the cup, you have to pay for it yourself,” Richard commented from behind the register.

Tweek squawked. “Oh, man, this is too much pressure!” he said shrilly. 

“It’s not so bad, Tweek, just think about it rationally-” Craig tried, but was quickly cut off.

“Rationally?! Rationally?! I’m not you! I don’t think like that! The only thing I can -HRGK!- think about now is how I’ve spent thirteen years with you, and now it’s all gone down the drain because you don’t respect me enough to realize I actually fucking  _ care  _ about having my job! GAH-! I don’t want to freeload off of you and I especially don’t want to make your life hell with a tiny income, and you want to ditch me because nothing I can do is good enough for you!” Tweek sobbed. “You don’t even want to compromise with me! You just want me gone, don’t you?! You’ve been wanting that for years!”

“That is  _ not  _ true at  _ all,  _ Tweek.”

“It obviously is if you won’t  _ work  _ with me to make this relationship something we both can handle!” Tweek snapped.

Tweek’s parents had gone to the back room, likely to give them some privacy. Thankfully, there were no other customers in the shop, which was probably why he and Craig hadn’t been kicked out yet, especially with how loud and angry Tweek was.

“You’re getting too loud and too worked up right now, Tweek. My decision is final. No secrets, or no relationship. If you can’t figure out a way to work with that, I’m gone,” Craig said firmly.

“You never  _ listen  _ to me! It’s like what I’m saying isn’t reaching you, Craig! I  _ can’t  _ talk to you about work stuff no matter how much I want to! Stop being an asshole and just hear me out for once!” Tweek begged.

Craig stared at Tweek for a long moment before standing up.

“Where are you going?” Tweek asked.

“Anywhere but here. I wanted to have a decent conversation with you, but you’re getting too emotional and loud in a public space, and I don’t want to deal with it anymore. I’m out,” Craig huffed, heading toward the door, not even caring that he didn’t get his bagel.

“GRAH-! I  _ hate  _ you, Craig! I never want to see you again!” Tweek screeched as the taller man reached for the door handle.

Craig paused, his shoulders tensing for a moment, but only a moment. He didn’t look back as he opened the door, using enough force to take it off its hinges as he left the shop.

Tears streamed down Tweek’s face as he reached for his phone and called Kenny, waking him up to tell him how badly everything had gone.

“I need help getting back to your place,” Tweek sniffled into the receiver once he had finished his rant, which probably sounded more like a series of choked and garbled screams of frustration.

_ “I’ll be right there. Take some time to finish your coffee and chill out a little, okay? I’ll have you back to my place in no time,”  _ Kenny promised.

As he waited, Tweek’s parents came out of the back room, Richard looked disappointed and a little angry, while his mother looked worried for her only son. She stepped over, handing Tweek a couple of napkins to wipe his face with and offered to let him into the back room to calm down while she got some coffee ready for him to take home.

Tweek couldn’t do anything other than agree. Customers would start coming in at any moment and he couldn’t let a bunch of strangers see him in this state, so he rushed into the back room as fresh tears began to wet his cheeks.

This was the worst day he’d ever had.

Thankfully enough, Kenny arrived in ten minutes flat, his crusty old car parked as close to the doors as he could get it. He walked inside and asked where Tweek was, and Richard directed him to the back room.

There, Tweek was huddled up in a corner near a bag of spilled coffee beans, holding his hair tightly as he shook, his head in his knees.

Without thinking about how wound up the blonde was, Kenny walked up to Tweek’s side and gently touched his shoulder, which elicited a scream from the younger man.

“Sorry, Tweekers, I didn’t mean to scare you. Why don’t we get you up and I’ll drive you home?” Kenny suggested softly. “It looks like your mom has a bag of coffee grounds ready for you, and she filled your thermos, too. Why don’t we drink some of that together, then have a nice bath, and then we can take a long nap. Sound good?”

Tweek finally lifted his head, revealing his red-rimmed eyes with deep bags underneath, and whimpered out a pathetic, “Okay…”

Kenny helped him to his feet, and grabbed Tweek’s coffee stuff with a quick thanks to his parents as they walked out to his car.

Kenny couldn't understand much of what Tweek had said during their phone call, but he understood that the talk had to have gone super badly to make him as upset as he was. With that thought in mind, all Kenny could think of was sweet, sweet revenge on the very person who hurt his little blonde.

Kenny helped Tweek bathe despite his protests of how he had showered that morning, and how he just needed to be alone, but like hell Kenny was going to let that happen when his friend was in such a bad state.

Once he was clean, Kenny made a pot of coffee full to the brim and let Tweek drink as much as he liked before the exhausted blonde finally decided he’d had enough and settled down for a nap.

When Tweek was dead asleep, Kenny had one plan and one plan only in mind: Piss Craig off. 

He slipped on some shades as he pulled out his phone, then made a peace sign to the camera as he snapped a picture of himself looking cool with Tweek in the background behind him, half naked and swaddled by blankets.

He saved the picture, then pulled up his contacts and selected the bastard’s name and began a multimedia text.

**[Kenny]: [IMAGE] fucked ur ex. Get rekt bitch.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Despite all that had happened that morning, Tweek and Kenny still had to report in for work that night. There was no other choice than to do so, since another important meeting was going to be conducted. That didn’t stop Tweek from whining about it, though.

“I don’t wanna go,” whined Tweek as he dragged his feet behind Kenny, but he didn’t get to stray far behind- Kenny had him by the hand, possessively dragging him off at his own pace.

“I know, but you gotta. This meeting is about trying to make a pact with Cartman so he’ll stop sabotaging us,” Kenny said huffed. “It’s important.” 

Tweek groaned. The last thing he wanted was to deal with Cartman. Whenever Coon and Friends were involved, his night was made hellish in some way or another. Tonight, it would probably be a wreck because he’d be forced to see Craig. Any of Cartman’s antics would pale in comparison to seeing his ex-boyfriend.

“I know it’s not something you want to deal with, but we need to make a compromise with him. Our team can’t afford to keep getting caught up in Cartman’s traps,” Kenny said.

“I’m probably the least important person on the team. Why is it so important that I come along?” Tweek huffed. “I’ll probably just start bawling when I see Craig, and then I’d ruin our shot at getting that compromise because Cartman will see me and make everyone start calling us the “Freedom Pussies.””.

“Then you can hold my hand while we all talk and try to focus on that so you don’t cry,” Kenny said. “But you’re still going. I can’t talk to Cartman without some moral support for myself, you know.”

Tweek scoffed at that, his cheeks flushing with color.

It didn’t take long for them to get to the base. Thankfully, Kenny didn’t live far from it. They were the first ones there, though, so they sat on the couch and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Kenny gently knocked the back of his cold hand against Tweek’s forehead as they waited. “Hm.”

“What?” Tweek asked.

“I noticed after I picked you up this morning, you’ve been super hot,” Kenny said. “Like, abnormally hot.”

Tweek blinked. “I don’t feel like I’m running a fever, if that’s the type of hot you’re meaning.”

“Of course you’re hot in the sexy sense, too, but yeah, I was talking about you being feverish. Maybe we should have Nicole stop over and check your temperature later.”

“Don’t we have a thermometer upstairs?” Tweek asked. “We don’t have to wait for her, you know. If it’ll keep you from worrying, I don’t mind.”

Kenny nodded and got up, then headed upstairs to return moments later with a digital thermometer. 

He turned it on and pressed the soft plastic end to Tweek’s temple.

The thing beeped, and Kenny made an odd face. “This thing’s broken,” he said.

“What? What’s it say?” Tweek asked, his heart thumping in his chest wildly. What if it was bad?

“This says you’re at a hundred and ten degrees. You’d be dead if that were true.”

Tweek gulped. “Is there another thermometer upstairs?” he asked.

“Just one of those cheap, shitty glass ones you have to hold in your mouth for a few minutes.”

“Can we try that? We have time. I’m worried.”

Kenny snorted and left again, returning with the glass thermometer. He gave it to Tweek, who stuck the bulbous end under his tongue.

Justt as he did so, the front door opened, and Timmy came rolling in with Token right behind him.

_ “Wonderful, almost everyone is here. I am sure Toolshed and Call Girl won’t be far behind,”  _ Timmy projected as he rolled past the door.

“What’s Wonder Kid doing?” Token asked as he paused in the doorway, staring at the thing in Tweek’s mouth.

“I’m taking his temperature. He’s been a little warm since this morning,” Kenny said.

“Wouldn’t it be easier with the digital thermometer?” Token asked.

“It’s broken,” Kenny said.

“What? But it’s brand new. We’ve only used it, like, twice,” Token pointed out.

“That can’t be right,” Kenny said with a furrowed brow. He looked at Tweek and made a “gimme” motion with his hand, so Tweek took the glass piece out of his mouth and handed it to him.

Kenny squinted as he checked the tiny numbers, then suddenly paled. “Do you feel sick at all?” he asked.

“What? Why? What’s wrong?” Tweek asked, eyes going wide as he prepared for the worst.

“Just answer me. You don’t feel sick, right? Not hot or cold?” Kenny asked urgently.

“No? I’m fine…” Tweek whimpered. His breath hitched as panic set in. “I’m fine, right?!”

_ “Kenny, what’s happening?” _ Timmy projected.

“This says his temperature is at a hundred and ten,” Kenny said, biting his lip. “Just like the other one.”

_ “Let me see,” _ Timmy demanded. 

Kenny walked over to his chair and showed him the numbers.

They’d all heard Tweek’s claim of feeling fine. Timmy’s eyebrows scrunched up together as he stared at the red line.  _ “Well, this is quite odd indeed.” _

“What should we do?” Kenny asked.

_ “If Tweek is feeling fine, then we’ll continue with our meeting. I’m certain this has to do with what we discussed on Monday, so we’ll make a note of it and put him on emergency watch status in case any adverse effects are observed,”  _ Timmy decided.  _ “Generally, I’d go straight for quarantine, but he’s not contagious.” _

Kenny didn’t quite seem satisfied with the answer. He was worried about Tweek and wanted Nicole to check him over before anything bad happened, but he knew that doing that would postpone their meeting with Cartman, and  _ everyone  _ knew what would happen if they kept Cartman waiting.

“GAH! Am I going to die?!” Tweek squawked.

“You’ll be fine, Tweekers. I’m sure there’s an explanation for this,” Kenny said reassuringly, though his heart wasn’t in his words.

Tweek stood up and darted over to Kenny, clutching tightly at his arm just as the final two Freedom Pals walked through the door.

“Sorry for taking so long, everyone. Toolshed lost his favorite drill and we just couldn’t leave without it,” Wendy said.

“Why do you all look so freaked out?” Stan asked.

“We’ll update you after the meeting,” Kenny said dismissively. He gave Tweek’s hand a gentle pat for comfort. “Now that we’re all here, we need to get going to the park.”

“Why couldn’t we just meet up there instead of here?” Stan huffed.

“Because it’s the Coon, dumbass. He’d pick us off individually if we were split up. Best to head there while we’re all together.”

Stan groaned softly. Kenny was always right. “Okay, okay, then let’s go.”

They all grouped together and walked out the door.

It was a long walk, the somber attitude of the group made Tweek’s anxieties skyrocket. At least Kenny was kind enough to squeeze his hand reassuringly throughout the way. 

By the time they arrived, Cartman’s group seemed to have shown up way ahead of schedule, apparent by how they were standing in a cool looking “v” formation that probably took forever to coordinate.

Cartman stood at the front, hunched over, one hand on the ground and the other out to the side, while his two brutalists, Craig and Scott, flanked him at either end. Craig looked angry instead of disinterested, his arms folded tightly over his chest, his huge muscles flexing like he was going to lose his cool at any moment. Scott had his arms up in the air, flexed to show off his impeccable biceps, though the pose lost some of its coolness considering the derpy look he always held with his tongue sticking out. On the far outer right stood Jimmy, leaning on his crutches and his legs spread in a state that showed he was ready to run circles around the Freedom Pals at any moment, and Kyle stood at the far left, one hand on his hip and the other holding the grip attached to his glider.

“Drop the act, you guys. We’re not intimidated,” Token huffed at them.

“You guys are just jealous because you’ll never look as cool as we do,” Cartman huffed back.

“No arguing. We’re here to discuss business,” Kenny said. He noticed, but didn’t physically acknowledge the look of pure, unadulterated rage Craig sent his way. It was almost impossible to fight off a smile as he squeezed Tweek’s fingers in triumph.

“Right, right, you wanted us to stop the bad luck you guys keep having on your missions, right?” Cartman asked.

Kenny’s nose scrunched up, but he bit his tongue so as not to point out that their so-called “bad luck” was implemented on them intentionally by his fat ass.

“Yes,” Kenny replied, his face settling back to normal. “We want a truce. What are your terms?”

Cartman grinned. “How badly do you want it?” he asked.

“Not badly enough to sacrifice any of my team for you, if that’s what you’re meaning,” Kenny said dismissively.

“You’d be sacrificing your team by  _ not  _ agreeing to my terms, but whatever,” Cartman said, examining his metal claws. “We want to expand our territory by taking part of your patrol routes, you get to fund our savings for a new base by giving us twenty percent of your collective income monthly, for a year, and finally, mixed patrol teams will be coordinated by Coon and Friends.”

“What do you mean by you want to control the mixed teams?” Kenny asked. No one controlled that aspect. Mixed teams were founded on mutual agreement by each party involved. 

Mixed teams were really only relevant during patrols and big fights, so why would Cartman want control over them? Was this another “big money” ploy?

“It was actually a suggestion given to me by Super Guy,” Cartman said, licking his lips. “It’s more of a marketing ploy, but he wants exclusive rights to teaming up with Wonder Kid. I think that if we change their status from pining rivals to loving duo, we’ll rake in tons more cash from the fans.”

Well, he’d been right about the money scheme, but there was no deal. Kenny didn’t mind giving up some of their patrol routes so Cartman could gloat about a higher arrest rate, he didn’t care about giving up part of their income so Coon and Friends could finally relocate out of Cartman’s mother’s basement, but there was no way in hell he’d let Craig have Tweek just so Cartman could make a profit.

“No deal,” Kenny finally said aloud, pulling Tweek closer to his side protectively.

“Why not?” Cartman asked, drawling his words in a whiney way.

“You know why,” Kenny huffed. He knew Craig had to have told Cartman about the fight and the breakup. 

“So just because you’d rather have have his gay ass to yourself, you’d let some more  _ unfortunate accidents  _ happen to your team?” Cartman asked. “I assure you, coming between me and my team’s profit is a huge mistake on your part. If you just agreed to my terms, you’d make a pretty penny, too.”

_ “We agree to your terms, Coon,”  _ Timmy projected, continuing on when Kenny shot him a look of betrayal.  _ “The safety of our members means more to us than a profit.” _

“Good to hear,” Cartman grinned, his sharp teeth glinting maliciously under the light of the streetlamps and the full moon overhead. “I’ll have the Human Kike here write up our agreement, and you can sign it tomorrow, though I expect the deal should already be in place.”

“Don’t call me that, fatass!” Kyle hissed.

“Shut up, dickhead!” Cartman growled back.

_ “Our side of town is free range to you and your members for tonight. We’ll draw up new and revised patrol routes tomorrow,”  _ Timmy said, stopping the argument before it could get out of hand.

“Awesome,” Cartman said. “Then this meeting is finished, right? Can we start exploring our new turf now?”

Kenny glared at him, but gave a swift nod of his head as an affirmative. 

One by one, the Coon’s formation broke up, starting with Jimmy, who was off to explore in a flash of bright yellow, then Kyle, who flew up into the sky. Scott followed next, running off to the left in a straight line, and then Cartman rolled out into the night.

Craig stayed back from the group instead of immediately running off. He marched forward and grabbed Tweek by the forearm, then dragged him away from Kenny since he knew the man was now powerless to stop him.

When they were gone, Kenny turned to glare at Timmy. “Why would you do that? Especially  _ now  _ of all times?” he hissed. “We agreed he needed to be under watch.”

_ “Who better to watch him than the man he loves?”  _

“They broke up this morning,” Kenny said. “I know you got the message, Doctor. Word like that spreads around town fast. What are you planning?”

Knowing he’d been caught, Timmy didn’t keep trying to hide his reasoning. “ _ I sense that Cartman is planning something sinister. I looked briefly into his mind and saw something that concerned me, though he blocked me out before I could get enough information.” _

“So you sent Wonder Kid straight into the arms of danger?” Kenny hissed. “In the state he’s in? On his own? No back up?”

_ “You’d best calm yourself, Mysterion. I understand your frustration, but this is for the best.” _

“Why?” 

_ “Don’t you believe the best way to disarm a trap is to intentionally set it off?”  _

Kenny paused. “Don’t tell me you’re playing right into the Coon’s plans.”

_ “I simply wish to observe for now. Should this situation get out of hand, we will put an abrupt stop to it,”  _ Timmy promised.

“We’d better,” Kenny huffed, stalking off to start his patrol.

Timmy watched him go before wheeling away back to the base.

* * *

_ “GYAH!  _ Hands off me, Craig!” Tweek squawked as he tried to wrench his wrist out of the brutalist’s impossibly tight grip.

“Hero names only when we’re in public, asshole,” Craig growled as he continued dragging Tweek along the street, then took a sharp turn into an alleyway.

“I told you I never wanted to see you again!” Tweek cried as he jerked his hand up and down to try to shake Craig off.

“Was that before or after you fucked Kenny?” Craig asked harshly, pulling Tweek ahead of him, then promptly pressing him against a brick wall.

“Wha-what?!” 

Craig pulled out his phone with one hand, the other planted firmly against Tweek’s chest as he pulled up the text and showed it to him. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”

Oh, that asshole... Tweek made a mental note to scream at Kenny for doing something as stupid as texting Craig about their relationship when he got home, but even if Kenny had been stupid, Craig had no right to rub it in his face.

“You broke up with  _ me!" _ Tweek said defensively. “You wanted a break! Who I sleep with now is none of your business!”

“God damn it, Kid, we were together for twelve fucking years, and you didn’t even wait a day before fucking someone else?!”

“He was  _ nice  _ to me-”

“Glad to know that’s you’re only fucking standard,” Craig spat. “God, it’s like everything I’ve been doing for you just went down the god damn drain. What were you thinking?!”

“It’s none of your business! You don’t own me, Super Guy!  _ You  _ broke it off even though I tried my hardest to make it work between us! You don’t have the  _ right  _ to be pissed when you’re the one who made it happen!”

“I bust my ass trying to protect you, I stick with The Coon despite the awful way he treats me for  _ you!? _ Craig snapped. “I was hoping maybe you’d see it my way when you texted me for coffee. I wanted to be able to sit there and tell you why I’ve been going through all this  _ bullshit, _ and then you completely ruined everything because you just can’t seem to return the favor!  What do you mean I don’t  _ respect  _ you?! I love you so much it hurts, you piece of shit! Everything I’ve done has been for you!  _ You’re  _ the one who doesn’t respect  _ me!  _ Don’t you know how much it hurts when you say you can’t trust me enough to talk?! It’s not like I’m going to turn around and feed everything you say back to a boss I  _ hate!” _

Craig pressed Tweek harder against the wall, the blonde whimpering at the strain against his ribs. He locked his hands around Craig’s wrist and pushed against it to try and relieve some of the pressure so he could breathe better.

“You say it’s because you can’t lose your job. I know I can’t support the both of us, but  _ still!  _ The lack of trust  _ hurts! _ And then you screamed at me and I couldn’t handle it! You said some pretty awful fucking things! For once in my life, I’m not actually trying to be an asshole! I just wanted us to be happier! And then you went and fucked Kenny despite the fact that I was hurting, too!”

“ _ You  _ broke up with  _ me!”  _ Tweek reminded him harshly, pushing back harder against the hand buried in his ribcage.  _ “You  _ said that we had to find other people!  _ You  _ did that!” 

“I  _ know!”  _ Craig snapped. He stared at Tweek angrily before finally settling down and taking his arm away so it hung limply at his side. “I know…” he said again, looking down. Tweek couldn’t quite tell in the darkness, but it seemed tears were forming in Craig’s blue eyes.

“I… I want to tell you everything,” Craig whispered when Tweek didn’t say a word. “But… God, Tweek, I’m  _ scared.  _ I’ve been so distant to you lately because I don’t want to scare you with what really happens when I’m at work. I promise I’m only staying with Coon and Friends to keep you safe. I wish I could join you and the Freedom Pals so I could be with you more, but if I did that, how would I be able to know what the Coon is planning? How would I be able to protect you from him? I just… I wanted to be able to know I could trust you not to feed everything I said back to your bosses, but in order for me to trust you with that, I had to know you could trust me the same way, and you  _ didn’t.” _

Craig sniffled and wiped at his nose furiously. “I still love you. I love you so fucking much, but I was so fucking scared that if I told you everything, you’d just feed it back to your team and I’d be labeled as a traitor, and then I’d get fired and be unable to work in the hero business anymore. I know you’re scared of the same thing, but… god, why can’t we just trust each other? I had to end it because the thought of your job being more important to you than me hurt too much,” he said. “And then you hurt me worse by proving me right. You had sex with Kenny immediately after we broke up. You don’t love me as much as I hoped you did.”

Tweek narrowed his eyes at Craig. “Maybe this all could’ve been avoided if you had said that in the first place.”

“I know…” Craig whispered, looking down at the ground in shame.

“I slept with Kenny because I was drunk and I needed some comfort, not because I hate you. I thought it would make me feel better to get my mind off our fight, but I felt so awful afterward… I get I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I felt like you didn’t want me anymore.”

“No… baby, no,” Craig said, his voice almost at a whimper.

“Well, how else was I supposed to feel?” Tweek huffed. “We’ve been having fights at least once a month for the past two years. We never do dates anymore, it feels like you’re not interested in me when we have sex, and every time I bring up the fact that we’ve been together  _ forever,  _ you always tell me we’re too young for marriage. It’s like you  _ wanted  _ us to break up.”

Craig fell silent at that.

“I know I didn’t want us to break up at first, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think it was for the best,” Tweek said with a sigh. “I’m so tired of all the arguments, Craig. I’m tired of your secrets, too. I’m tired of feeling like I was the one who made our relationship fall apart. All I wanted was what I thought was best for us, and you’re saying I didn’t love you enough? That’s bullshit.

“You say you love me so much it hurts, but it felt like I was the only one putting any real effort into our relationship half the time. You say you broke up with me because I don’t trust you, but you didn’t even bother to take the time to realize it went both ways. You didn’t trust me, either. You wouldn’t talk to me. You didn’t tell me your real fears about this whole trust issue until it was already too late for me to not make the mistakes I did. If you’re really telling the truth and you’re doing all this shit for me, then why couldn’t we just talk? What is it you’re so scared of?”

Craig chewed at his lip as he listened. He was completely silent for a moment before he finally replied. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way… I’m sorry I didn’t talk with you sooner. I’m sorry I let this all get out of hand, and I’m sorry for making you feel like I didn’t love you.”

Tweek could feel tears pricking at his eyes. He didn’t want apologies. He wanted change. He wanted everything to go back to normal, like it had been before they bought that stupid house together and started fighting all the time.

“I know it’s a little late to try and fix this. I know it’s stupid to tell you that I think I can finally trust you. I have something I’ve been needing to tell you, and I know it won’t excuse my actions over the past two years, but hopefully it’ll explain them.”

“What is it?” Tweek asked.

Craig made a fearful face, looking up, back, left, and right as though he were searching for someone who might be listening in. “Cartman wants to kill one of us off,” he said, his voice barely a whisper, but as he continued on, he got a little louder, more urgent. “I don’t know how he’ll do it, and I don’t know why, though I think it’s some sort of marketing ploy. He’s been talking about it since we all finished high school, and it’s the only reason I’ve been staying in his group. I have to get more information, Tweek. I can’t give him the advantage over us by switching sides. It stresses me out when he mentions it, which is why I always come home mad. It’s why I’m always on edge and picking fights with you. I didn’t mean to take it out on you, but the thought of one of us dying just so he can make a quick buck just… It sets me off so bad.”

_ “That’s  _ the reason we’ve been fighting so much?” Tweek asked incredulously. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you take all your anger out on me if what you really wanted was to keep me safe?”

“Because I’m a shitty boyfriend and stress makes me stupid,” Craig sighed. “I know an apology will never be enough, but I really am sorry. I never should have taken it out on you. I should have just trusted you and told you what was happening from the start, but I was so scared you’d tell your group and that I’d lose my job that I just… I just clammed up.”

“For two years?” Tweek growled. “You wouldn’t lose your job for telling on Cartman when he’s planning something as stupid as this. Why shouldn’t we tell the Freedom Pals? If I’d have known sooner, we could have a put a stop to that stupid idea _before_ it strained our relationship.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Craig whispered. “I think Cartman keeps mentioning it around me because he  _ wants  _ the Freedom Pals to know. I think he’s been banking on me sharing that information so he can put his plan into action.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Intuition.”

“You’re a horrible liar.”

Craig scrunched up his nose. “I’m not lying.”

“Liar.”

“Tweek, just shut up and believe me. I’m telling you everything I know.”

Tweek huffed at that. “Fine, but tell me something.”

“What’s that?”

“If Cartman is really planning to kill one of us, and I can’t tell the Freedom Pals because it’s supposedly going to set that plan in motion, then what are we supposed to do?” he asked. "It sounds like we have no options other than keep quiet and pray nothing happens."

“Well, I have a plan. It’s a little stupid though.”

“And it is?”

“We stage a fight.”

Tweek gave him an odd look. “How’s that going to help?”

“If we, the pining rivals, prove that we hate each other to the public, then Cartman won’t have any reason to kill one of us off. I think he’s trying to make money off of the heartbreak of one of us dying, or market one of us to be more appealing to our fans, since single heroes get a lot more attention. By staging a public breakup, he loses all his leverage,” Craig explained.

“How will that work if we get back together afterwards?” Tweek didn’t think that would happen, not after the way Craig had treated him, and not after he’d destroyed Craig’s heart by sleeping with Kenny, but the possibility was still there. Tweek still had feelings for Craig, and Craig had admitted he still loved Tweek, but they were both hurting bad from this fight.

“We’ll work on that if it ends up happening. After all I did, I’m sure you don’t want me back… Plus, you have Kenny now, right?” Craig pointed out, albeit sadly. “I think after all this, we still need some time apart, anyway. I want you to choose whether I’m right for you, or if he is.”

Tweek’s heart sank. He was still mad at Craig, so why did that hurt so much?

“Right now, a staged fight is all I can think of to keep you safe,” Craig said, changing the subject so Tweek couldn’t linger on it while there were more important matters to tend to.

“How do we even start? Oh god, this is too much pressure… I can’t fake fight you!” Tweek whined.

“Think of it like we did in middle school when everyone made us be gay together,” Craig said. “You’re a good actor, honey. I know you can pull this off.”

Tweek made an odd noise that Craig couldn’t pinpoint on whether it was agreement or disagreement, but that wasn’t about to stop him.

Their phones chirped with a message, and Craig was the first to read it. He showed it to Tweek with a small smile. “A perp’s been found. This is the perfect way to start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any further questions on the story, or comments you don't want to post here, consider following me on my tumblr @ohfortheloveofgaming !


	7. Tempest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! I'm at one of the scenes I made this whole story for! I'm super excited to know what you all think!
> 
> Updated as of 05/28/2020

“You let him get away! Nice going, Wonder  _ Geek!”  _ Craig hissed as he picked himself up off the ground, brushing off the gravel on the back of his pants with a huff.

Everyone who could go after the perpetrator, a measly purse thief, had come running to catch them. After several days of no crime in the city, all of the young heroes were reeling to get some action in. 

Now, with the thief having escaped, all that was left was to watch the two men yelling in the middle of the street.

_ “Me?!”  _ Tweek squawked, twitching a little from the excess energy running through his body. He had been downing coffee like it was his only lifeline during the fight, as it helped him to generate more electricity. “He-  _ ngh!-  _ pushed right past you and you didn’t even  _ try  _ to stop him! Why are you  _ -hrk!-  _ b-blaming me?!” 

“Because maybe if you could take your eyes off your fucking thermos for more than two seconds, you would’ve seen him making a beeline for the alley!” Craig shot right back. “You’re so fucking dense sometimes, you know that?”

“Oh, I’m _dense_ now? Is that it?! _Hrrk-!”_ Tweek began to twitch and spasm more as he grew heated. “At least I’m not slow and useless, _Stupid Guy!”_

“You coulda fooled me!” Craig spat. “If you actually used your stupid ice powers, he wouldn’t have gotten away! But  _ noooooo! Obviously electricity  _ is the only way to go!” 

“Guys, chill out,” Kenny interjected in his gravelly Mysterion voice as he stepped between the two, trying to play the peacemaker for the ex-lovers. He’d known something like this was going to happen. “We’re all to blame here. Let’s stop fighting and try to figure out how to do better next time.”

“No, out of the way, Mysterion!” Tweek hissed, shoving Kenny to the side so he could see his stupid ex-boyfriend’s face. “This bastard is always trying to make me look like an idiot! Isn’t it bad enough that he _-rrgh!-_ forced me to tag along with him when we’re _over?”_

“Isn’t it a stretch to say you were  _ tagging along  _ when all you were doing was holding me back?” Craig huffed. “Seriously, Tweek! Isn’t it bad enough that I have to take out half the field on my own  _ without  _ having to calm you down from your caffeine-induced anxiety attacks while I’m at it?”

“You’re just mad that I have actual superpowers while all you have are big muscles!” 

“Anyone who downs that much coffee could shoot a little static from their fingers, you walking heart attack!” Craig seethed.

“I’ll show you  _ a little static!”  _ Tweek screeched, lurching forward as a visible shock of electricity ran up his wild hair, poofing it out even more.

“Coon! I could use a little help here!” Kenny shouted as he stepped between the two, acting as a human barrier in hopes this wouldn’t turn uglier than it already was.

“Are you kidding me, dude?” Cartman grinned smugly. “I’m taking bets. I got twenty bucks on Super Dude. No way an Elementalist can beat a Brutalist.”

“Guys, they’re gonna kill each other!” Kenny hissed. Tweek was still trying to go at Craig, so Kenny hooked his arms under Tweek’s shoulders, trying to hold him back, but the scrawny kid was surprisingly strong, as well as difficult to keep a grip on.

_ “Hands off!”  _ Craig snapped, shooting forward to punch Kenny square in the jaw, but one of Tweek’s spasms offset Kenny’s grip and Craig ended up punching the smaller blonde in the face instead, sending him flying out of Kenny’s arms and straight into the closest building, destroying and crumbling bricks upon impact.

Upon realising what he had done, just how far he’d taken the fight, Craig’s eyes widened and he stood there frozen, his hand still balled in a tight fist. “Oh, fuck,” he whispered. “Honey, I’m sorry-”

Any other words he might have said died quickly in his throat as all the lights in the town shut off at once. Had Tweek hit a powerline? Was that the electric plant he’d flown into? No, and no. It was a clear area, and the building was nothing more than a barber shop.

“Wonder Kid!” Kenny cried. He flashed a glare at Craig before darting off to the pile of rubble, not even seeming to notice the dark clouds suddenly covering the light of the moon, shrouding everyone in pitch darkness. 

He did stop short, however, when the tornado sirens started going off. 

“Take cover!” Token shouted as he grabbed Wendy and Kyle by the hands, dragging them off to the nearest building to take shelter.

All the other heroes followed, save for Kenny and Craig, who slowly made their way over to Tweek.

“Super Guy, stay back. I don’t want you to get hurt,” Kenny said. His instincts were telling him something bad was about to happen, and, as much as he didn’t like Craig in this moment, he had made a vow to himself to protect everyone the best he could, even if it cost him his own life.

“Back off, jackass. He’s  _ mine.  _ Like hell I’ll let you get to him first,” Craig growled as he grabbed Kenny’s shoulder and shoved him off to the side so he could pass the blonde.

“He’s  _ mine now,  _ asshole. In case you forgot, you ditched him,” Kenny bit back. 

“I’m not gonna let you have him,” Craig said as he charged ahead to get to the pile of rubble, only to have his strong legs swept out from under him by a harsh gust of wind.

“Super Guy!” Kenny cried, rushing to his side. God, the guy was a jerk, but he still had a duty to protect him, just like everyone else.

“I’m fine,” Craig spat, pushing Kenny’s helping hand away as he got up on his own.

The debris inside the broken building began to shift and fall away as the winds around the two young men picked up, swirling up dust and dirt as the sky above them turned a sickly green.

“We need to take cover,” Kenny breathed as he watched the sky swirl and churn with twisting clouds that had begun to reach for the ground.

“But Tweek-”

“I think he’s the one behind this,” Kenny said quickly as he tugged at Craig’s arm. “We need to  _ go.” _

“Tweek can’t make something like this! He’s not strong enough!”

As if to mock Craig’s words, the pile of rubble exploded with a huge rush of air, and Tweek emerged from the remains, body limp and eyes closed as a twister formed around his body, slowly setting him upright.

Kenny gestured to the sight urgently. “Say that again! I dare you!” he shouted over the rushing winds.

“It’s not him! It can’t be him!” Craig yelled back. “Tweek!  _ Wonder Kid!  _ Wake up!”

Tweek’s eyes finally opened, showing nothing but pure, glowing white inside. 

_ “Wonder Kid? How childish. A name such as that is unfit for someone like me,”  _ the words from his bleeding mouth echoed, perfectly audible to the two men even over the roaring of the air.

“That’s not Tweek,” Craig gasped. Yes, it was Tweek’s body, but that voice, that calmness, the  _ power,  _ none of that belonged to the man he loved.

Kenny yanked at Craig’s arm again, finally getting the huge man’s stubborn feet to move as he was urgently dragged to safety.

_ “Call me… Tempest,”  _ came those echoing words again.  _ “I’ll see you all again soon.” _

With that, the winds stopped, dropping flying sticks and stones to the ground heavily, smashing windows and causing minor damage to the rest of the city as the twister dropped Tweek unceremoniously to the ground.

The sky cleared again in seconds, the alarms stopped ringing, and the streetlights slowly flickered back on.

_ “Tweek!”  _ Craig screamed as he wrenched his arm from Kenny’s grip and ran to his ex-boyfriend’s side, shaking him urgently, trying to get him to wake so he could check for injuries.

“Super Guy, back off,” Kenny warned him as he tried to clear the area around Tweek. The other heroes were already reappearing from their hiding places, suspicious as to what was happening.

“God, I did this. I didn’t mean to punch him-” Craig chastised himself. “He’s  _ bleeding,  _ Mysterion! I have to help him!”

“If we move him now, we could cause more damage. We need a stretcher,” Kenny said. “Plus, we don’t know if he’s safe yet. He could make another storm like that before we have time to react. Let’s just gather our bearings and think this through. That’s your thing, right? Being the rational one?”

Craig gulped, swallowing down his intense panic as he stared at Tweek lying motionless on the ground. That’s right. He was calm. He was rational.

He had to be, for Tweek.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to give a trigger warning for this chapter. I used one of my own medical experiences as a reference, so I ended up giving myself an anxiety attack. I don't wish for anyone else to have to deal with that, so for everyone's safety, this chapter has a violent experience in a medical setting. If you aren't comfortable with that, please feel free to skip this chapter, as well as the next one.
> 
> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Tweek’s eyes shot open. The first things he noticed were that he was on a sterile bed, with a loud, beeping machine taking his pulse and a tube in his arm feeding him fluids. As his sense of feeling returned, his jaw and the back of his skull began to throb with pain, and his back and legs felt like sledgehammers were slamming against the bones.

Tweek looked around slowly so as not to aggravate poor head and finally seemed to understand he was back at the medical room they had reserved at the Freedom Pals’ base. The walls weren’t white, instead they were an off-looking gray, and the floor was made of laminated wood instead of tile or epoxy. It wasn’t quite the picture of sterile, but it worked as a makeshift clinic when injuries were work related, best for keeping their confidentiality from the public’s medical staff.

His eyes finally drifted to the empty bench in the room. Did no one come to visit him while he was out? It wasn’t too surprising, since Craig wasn’t allowed in the base in the first place, but what about Kenny? Also, where was Nicole? Maybe he was being a baby, but he was hurting pretty bad. He wanted some pain medicine.

_ “I see you’re awake,”  _ Timmy’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.  _ “Are you well? Do you remember anything from last night?” _

Tweek made a soft noise. Was this a quarantine? Was he sick? Was that why no one was around? He looked up to the surveillance camera stationed in the corner of the room. Were they watching him? Had he done something bad?

“It hurts,” he mumbled, wincing as his jaw throbbed from the movement of his mouth. “I blacked out after Craig punched me.”

_ “I see… Interesting indeed. Please wait for a moment. I am sending in Nicole and Kenny.” _

Tweek waited impatiently, his fingers twitching and tapping against the sheets as his mind raced with impossible possibilities over why he was alone.

He heard clicking as the door was unlocked- wait, why had it been locked in the first place?!- and Kenny and Nicole walked into the room. Kenny was still dressed up in his Mysterion gear, oddly enough.

Kenny walked to Tweek’s side and looked over him, a serious look in his eye. Tweek couldn’t see any affection in his gaze, though he could see concern. 

“Can you tell me your name?” Kenny asked, his eyes narrowing as he made eye contact with Tweek.

“D-Do you think I have a concussion?!” Tweek asked nervously.

“Just answer the question,” Kenny commanded.

“NGH-!” Tweek shrunk back against the pillows. Was Kenny mad at him? Why was he being so cold?

“Mysterion, I think it’s him,” Nicole said simply. “According to your report, there was a distinct personality change.”

“It could be a trick,” Kenny pointed out. He thrust his finger in Tweek’s face. “Tell me your name.”

“I-It’s- AH-! It’s Tweek!” Tweek cried, his hands flying up to tug at his hair nervously, despite the shooting pain the action sent down his back.

Kenny’s gaze immediately softened as he sighed in relief. “Sorry, Tweekers. We’re just trying to be cautious.”

“Why do you have to be cautious?” Tweek asked quickly. “What happened last night?”

Kenny cupped the side of Tweek’s face gently. “You scared us pretty bad, is all. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Tweek huffed. Kenny’s touch made his jaw throb, but it was still nice, in a way. It was reassuring, at the very least.

“Mysterion, give Wonder Kid some space, please,” Nicole said. “I need to check him over.”

Kenny stepped back reluctantly, then went to take a seat over in the chairs by the door.

Nicole stepped closer to Tweek, poking and prodding him gently as she checked over his injuries. “You had a pretty nasty fall last night,” she said. “And that punch dislocated your jaw, but the x-rays showed no broken bones. You should consider yourself very lucky, Wonder Kid.”

“What happened?” Tweek asked again.

His question was ignored as Nicole continued on. “I was able to set your jaw back in place while you were out, but there wasn’t much else I could do considering your injuries are mostly pulled muscles and sprains. I’m going to prescribe you some pain medication and a muscle relaxer, and keep you on bed rest until you heal, but you may be out for a while longer considering the new orders to keep you under strict observation.”

“What?” Tweek wasn’t following. “Why am I under observation?”

“Multiple reasons, actually. Mysterion, do I have permission to discuss this with him?” Nicole asked.

“Maybe it’s best if you talk about the health reasons and I tell him about the other thing,” Kenny said. 

Other thing? What other thing?

Nicole nodded. “Alright, well, Wonder Kid, you’ve been placed under medical observation because of the health issues recorded as of last night. Your abnormally high temperature hasn’t gone down any, and your radiation level has skyrocketed to an increment that should have been fatal for a regular person,” she listed. “Your mutations have likely saved your life, but we need to make sure you aren’t experiencing any adverse reactions or illnesses in the coming days.”

“Oh, JESUS-!” Tweek shrieked. “Am I going to die?!”

Nicole looked down at him sympathetically. “Honestly, we’re not sure,” she said softly. “I’ve never seen a case like this, and nothing I’ve read over the past few hours on this subject has produced, er,  _ pleasing  _ results.”

Tweek’s eyes filled with tears. This was it. He was done for.

Kenny stood up and walked to Tweek’s side, Nicole stepped back respectfully to give him room.

“Outside of medical observation, you’re under lawful observation,” Kenny said in a low voice. “You said you blacked out after Craig punched you, but something happened that’s now labeled you as an unknown threat.”

“What?! What did I do?!” Tweek gasped.

“You almost destroyed the town with a series of twisters,” Kenny explained. 

_ “What?!  _ But I can’t  _ make  _ twisters! I can only use lightning and water!” Tweek protested.

“We have reasonable suspicion that your mutation has accommodated new abilities,” Nicole chimed in.

Kenny nodded. “It was undoubtedly you who made those twisters, whether you remember it or not,” he said. 

“What does this mean?” Tweek asked, blinking away his tears. He couldn’t tell if he was frustrated, scared, sad, or all of the above. His emotions had grown so out of control that he was suddenly numb to them. “What am I going to do?”

“There’s not much you  _ can  _ do,” Kenny said. “Orders are that you’re to stay in this room until your status as a threat has been rescinded. A hero will always be present with you in the case you go haywire, and you’re going to have to put up with a bunch of tests as we try to figure out what’s exactly wrong with you.”

Well, at least he wouldn’t be alone, but really, this wasn’t ideal in any sense. Would radiation kill him off, or would one of his teammates? Tweek couldn’t help but fret over the thought that if he even twitched wrong, he might be seen as going out of control.

“It’s nothing too bad,” Nicole promised, giving a harsh look to Kenny. The man was being rational, yes, and he could handle Tweek’s anxiety in most cases, but right now, he was making it worse.

“Nothing too bad?  _ Nothing too bad?!”  _ Tweek squawked, his voice high with panic. His numbness had disappeared the moment Nicole tried to downplay the situation, causing all those overwhelming emotions to hit him again with full, crushing force. “I’m evil and I’m dying! How the hell is that  _ not  _ awful?!”

“Tweek, you need to calm down,” Kenny said slowly. “I know this is all very stressful, but if you get too high strung, we have orders to forcefully calm you down.”

Tweek screamed. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?!” the curtains from the single window in the room  _ whooshed  _ off to the side, despite the window being closed. 

“Nicole, get the sedative,” Kenny said quickly.

Tweek ripped the covers off his body, not caring that he was half naked, only covered by a medical gown and his boxers. He shot straight up, crying out at, but pushing through the pain that shot down his back. He ripped the tube out of his arm while also removing the clip on his finger that was taking his pulse, then threw his aching legs over the side of the bed with full intent to run away.  _ “AH!  _ You’re all after me! I don’t wanna die here!”

Kenny lurched forward to force Tweek back down. “Don’t do this, Tweek, just chill out. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

“You’re going to hurt me?!” Tweek cried shrilly as he thrashed under Kenny’s grip. “No, no,  _ no!  _ Let me  _ go!” _

Kenny barred his arm over Tweek’s throat after realizing it was useless to try to keep the blonde still by aiming center mass when his limbs thrusted and battered about like a raging tornado- no pun intended. 

Nicole ran to the other side of the room to dig through a metal box. Her steady fingers gripped an already prepared syringe

Tweek screeched when he saw the needle and struggled even harder, managing to get himself out from under Kenny’s hold as his body fell like a rock to the floor. 

Adrenaline surged through his veins, blocking off all the pain he had felt earlier as panic flooded his senses. He scrambled on all fours, barely getting himself upright as he reached the door. He barely processed the cold steel on his fingers as he threw it open, the knob slamming against the drywall as his body forced itself out the doorway.

_ “Tweek!”  _

He barely heard his own name being called as he made it halfway down the hall, no real destination in mind- he just had to get out. He had to  _ leave.  _

He’d almost made it to the stairs when he was tackled hard to the floor. Kenny sat on Tweek’s lower back and quickly grabbed his wrists to pin them to his sides as Nicole came up close behind. 

“Don’t do this! Don’t do this to me!” Tweek begged, hyperventilating as he continued to squirm, but now Kenny had the best possible hold on him. There was no further chance for escape. 

Tweek screamed again as the needle was jammed into his shoulder, then his whole world went black.


	9. A Villain is Born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Tweek woke hours later, his body heavy and his head dizzy and hot. He moved to brush his hair out of his face, but his hand stopped short with a heavy clink. He looked down to see he was handcuffed to the bed railing. He looked to his other hand to find the IV had been taped down with a roll of bandages so he couldn’t rip it out again.

He let out a heavy sigh. He really was stuck here, trapped in this room. Is this where he was going to die? He didn’t feel sick yet, but he was sure the radiation would kill him in no time flat. His expiration date was undetermined, but soon, and to add insult to injury, he was also a threat who had lost all the trust he had acquired with the actions he’d made out of panic. 

“Looks like you’re awake again. Do you feel any calmer?” came a voice from inside the room.

Tweek’s eyes flicked over to the seating area, where he saw Kenny slowly moving to stand. 

“Do-don’t come any closer,” he said weakly, his heart racing as Kenny kept moving toward him, his hands out in front of him and his steps slow to show that he wasn’t a threat. 

“It’s okay, Tweekers. Let’s just talk,” Kenny whispered.

“I-I don’t wanna talk to you,” Tweek said quickly, his vision growing spotty as his breathing became erratic. “You- You hurt me.”

“I didn’t have a choice, babe. You panicked, and I had orders to keep you calm. If I don’t do what I’m told, I’m not allowed to be in here with you.”

“I don’t  _ want  _ you to be here with me,” Tweek sniffled as tears flooded his eyes. He sank back as far as he could into the pillows, his arm pulling hard against the cuffs from the strain. 

“Don’t say that… Tweek, just listen to me, okay?” Kenny begged, though he kept his voice soft so as not to scare the smaller blonde.

“No,  _ no,”  _ Tweek whimpered, sniffling more. “I'm scared! I need Craig here!”

“We’re going to see what we can do about that. After last night, Craig has been begging to see you. He really wants to apologize for hitting you, but before we can let him in, he has to be screened and questioned,” Kenny explained. “He also said he wants to join our group so this never happens again.”

Tweek twitched, his eye half closing briefly as he processed Kenny’s words. Craig finally wanted to join the Freedom Pals? But what about Cartman?

As if he’d read Tweek’s mind, Kenny continued on. “Craig told me that Cartman has plans to kill one of you off. He said the only reason he hadn’t joined Freedom Pals sooner was because he had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I know,” Tweek whispered. “He told me. It’s why he broke up with me. He couldn’t stand the stress.”

Kenny nodded in understanding. “He wanted me to tell you he still loves you and he wants to try again.”

“You’re lying.”

“What?”

“You’re lying. He told me just last night that I need to decide for myself whether I want him or you.” 

“I’m just trying to relay his message-”

“It’s not his message. It’s a ploy to try and keep me calm, isn’t it?” Tweek growled. “Because that’s what you’re here for, right? To keep me from having another panic attack? You’re trying to give me hope that Craig still wants me, even though you told him about us.”

Kenny took a step back, his fingers spread out wide apart in some odd attempt to make himself seem even more harmless. “Tweek, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to-”

“-follow orders,” Tweek finished for him. “That’s pretty shitty you’d manipulate me just because someone told you to.”

“Then what do you suggest I do?”

“Tell me the truth. I don’t want to be manipulated.”

“Okay,” Kenny said, finally putting his hands down. “I won’t do that again.”

“And stop treating me like a criminal, while you’re at it. Don’t you know me at all? I’m not evil,” Tweek huffed.

“I may know you aren’t, but a lot of people are questioning you now. Protocol is to treat you as we would a high level threat.”

“Why? What exactly did I do?” Tweek hissed.

“I told you, Tweek, the twisters-”

“I. Can’t. Make. Twisters,” Tweek huffed. “How are you so sure it was me?”

Kenny gave him a sheepish look. “It was… It was some pretty damning evidence.”

“Your face makes me want to think you’re lying to me again.”

“I’m not. Craig can attest to it when he gets here.”

Tweek sighed and looked away, glaring down at the cuff pulling tightly against his wrist. He forced himself to finally relax, giving his skin a break and letting the blood flow return to his hand. The cuff shifted a little, giving off a glimpse of a bright red mark with a deep indent.

Kenny took another step closer, making Tweek jump and cower back again. Kenny stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes filled with sadness at the reaction.

“Why are you so scared of me?”

“You hurt me,” Tweek whispered, little tears blurring his sight.

Kenny reached out to gently touch Tweek’s leg, but Tweek yanked it back like the hand was going to burn him. 

Kenny bit his lip as he pulled his arm back to his chest. “Babe, I told you I didn’t have a choice-”

“Don’t call me that. Don’t try to be sweet right now. You put your arm on my throat when I was already scared, and then you tackled me in the hallway.”

“I’m sorry, Tweek… Maybe I was wrong,” Kenny said slowly, trying to keep him calm. “But what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t let you just get away.”

“Why not?! I’m not out to hurt people!” Tweek snapped.

“You made everyone think otherwise when you made those twisters. We’re just trying to-”

“I can’t  _ make  _ twisters!” Tweek interrupted him angrily. “This is all some big misunderstanding! I’m not a villain!”

“Tweek, you need to calm down,” Kenny said, reaching into his pocket. “You remember what happened last time you freaked out.”

A visible stream of static ran through Tweeks hair, causing it to stand straight up with a loud hum as his eyes flickered white. “Don’t fucking touch me. You put your hands on me again and I’ll make your brain short circuit. I don’t want the needle, I don’t want you near me, and I don’t want to be here! I just want to go home! If I’m going to die, I want to spend what time I have left with Craig in  _ our  _ house!”

As he grew more heated with the demands, a small breeze whipped up in the room. This was getting out of hand fast. If Kenny couldn’t calm him down quickly, he knew he’d need backup.

Kenny backed up to the door, pressing the panic button in his pocket as the breeze slowly grew stronger, moving the curtains and causing the cylindrical tools that rested on the nearby counter to roll and clink to the floor.

“Tweek, just breathe,” Kenny said, still trying his best to calm him down before his backup arrived. His gaze flicked to the cuffs linking Tweek to the bed, which were possibly the only thing that was keeping him somewhat safe at the moment, and noticed that they were turning red and starting to distort where Tweek’s wrist was pulling against them. 

Oh, shit.

Kenny took his hand out of his pocket. “Okay, okay, Tweek, I promise I won’t try anything,” he said loudly, trying to be heard over the loud gusts. “Just chill out a little bit and we can talk through this. Maybe we can even make an exception and let you hang out with Craig in the lounge.”

“I want to go home!” Tweek demanded as he wrenched his hand free of the cuffs, molten metal dripping onto the clean white sheets that covered his lap, burning through them and his gown as he kept his flickering eyes trained on Kenny. Surprisingly enough, the heat didn’t seem to hurt him at all. The only semblance of injury was the red ring around his wrist from where he had been tugging against the restraint.

Keny swallowed thickly. This wasn’t working, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying. “Tweekers, please, just calm down. I don’t have any authority on where you can go. Please don’t take it out on me. Please, you’re scaring me.”

That made Tweek pause. “I’m… scaring you…?” he asked, his voice sounding slightly off. His eyes stopped flickering after a series of quick blinks, and the winds came to an abrupt stop just before they had knocked over the wobbling IV drip next to his bed.

Tweek’s eyes darted around the room as his teeth gnawed roughly at his lower lip from panic. He saw the tools on the floor and the twisted up curtains against the window, and his heart fell.

It seemed he really  _ could  _ control the air now, but he was still sure it wasn’t him who made the twisters that almost destroyed the town like Kenny claimed. How could he have? He’d been unconscious, and despite his rage and all of the energy he’d used to control the air, the winds he’d made were nothing more than a light breeze compared to a twister!

Now Kenny was scared of him. All he’d done was prove to the man that he might have actually been the person behind the twisters. Tweek had just ruined everything for himself, and his crime? Wanting to go home.

He buried his face in his hands, so devastated with himself that he wasn’t even able to feel any hint of surprise when he noticed his wrist was free. “God… What’s happening to me…?”

Kenny breathed a small sigh of relief. “It’s okay, Tweekers. It’s all going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out together,” he assured him. Everything was under control now, it seemed. “Let’s just take a moment to calm down, and then we can go and talk to Craig like I said we would.”

Tweek sniffled and wiped at his eyes quickly. “Will he really want to see me when I’m like this?” 

“Of course he will,” Kenny said, giving Tweek a reassuring smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Kenny’s heart was beating a million miles a minute as the adrenaline hadn’t quite worn off yet. What if it had gotten any more out of control? Tweek could have destroyed the room. If he could create damage with the wind in a small space like the infirmary, he could definitely do more on a larger scale.

Tweek was more unstable than ever. His stress levels were so high that any wrong move could make him snap, and honestly, Kenny couldn’t blame him. Were he mortal, he’d be just as scared and angry as Tweek was now. How could a person calmly handle being told they were a threat who was also possibly going to die of radiation at such a young age?

This matter needed to be handled delicately. Tweek needed as little stress as possible to keep him stable for the time being. There was no room for any further wrong moves. He had to-

Kenny’s thoughts on how to handle Tweek were cut off the moment the door to the room burst open and Wendy, Stan, and Token rushed in, weapons at the ready. Nicole stood just outside the door, a syringe in her hand, ready to be used the moment Tweek was restrained.

Rage filled Tweek’s eyes the moment his shock wore off from the surprise entry. “Kenny…” he whispered, his hands curling into the sheets, wrinkling them. He ground his teeth together audibly as he continued, “You called backup on me?”

“Don’t freak out, Tweek,” Kenny said. “I was just following protocol. You’re calm now, right? They can leave, and we won’t have any more problems.”

“Why did  _ everyone  _ come in? You weren’t planning to kill me, were you?” Tweek asked, blinking away angry tears. They couldn’t just let him die of radiation in peace? They had to come in- possibly with deadly force instructions- because he was rightfully angry over this?

“We weren’t planning on killing you, Tweek,” Kenny said slowly. “The button I pressed notifies everyone in case it’s an emergency. Everything’s fine now, so they can leave.”

Token looked back at Kenny with a raised eyebrow.

Kenny gave him an intense, wide eyed look and jerked his head toward the door urgently.

Token narrowed his eyes, but nodded as he got the message. “Kenny’s right, guys. It’s all cool now, right Tweek? We’ll just go,” he said, fully intent on staying just outside the door with the two other heroes in case Tweek grew escalated again.

A low rumble resounded from Tweek’s throat, causing the other heroes to visibly tense. A cool breeze blew through the room, setting everyone more on edge. 

“They’re leaving, Tweek. It’s okay, see?” Kenny tried in one last, desperate measure to keep him calm. “We’re not going to use force on you.”

“You were going to just a minute ago,” Tweek growled, glaring at Kenny. “You wouldn’t think twice about killing me, would you?”

“We’re not going to kill you, Tweek, we just want you to stay calm so no disasters happen,” Kenny said. 

“LIAR!” Tweek snapped, icy wind sending all of them back a step. His eyes began to flicker white again and his voice grew distorted as he continued on. “So you all think I’m evil now, huh?”

His body began to levitate, hovering just above the bed as his legs stretched out to reach the floor. The winds began to blow through the room at a faster speed, sending rolls of gauze and small tools flying. He unraveled the bandages around his hand so he could take out the IV. 

They were here because they wanted him gone. He was a threat now, right? They weren’t his friends anymore. They’d kill him in a heartbeat. They wanted a fight? Fine. Totally fine. He’d always figured that he’d go out in the heat of battle. Like hell he was going to die of radiation when this was much quicker. He wouldn’t let himself go down easy, though. Those bastard ex-friends of his won’t be allowed to remember him as the little weakling who went down without a fight. He wasn’t evil- he was  _ angry. _

Still… He didn’t want to hurt them if he didn’t have to. He certainly didn’t have the guts to  _ kill  _ any of them. If he hurt them without reason, he’d just be proving them right, that he  _ was  _ evil. He didn’t want that, either. He’d have to wait for one of them to make the first move, and he would just retaliate.

“Tweek, you’re our friend!” Wendy cried over the rushing winds, calling him back from the void of dark thoughts. “You’re not bad, you’re just lashing out because you’re scared! We don’t want you to hurt anybody, and we especially don’t want to hurt you! Please, just think about what you’re doing for one second and  _ listen  _ to us!”

Tweek paused. Was he wrong? Did they actually, really not want to kill him? 

Kenny took a tentative step forward. “Look, Tweek, we all get you’re stressed over this, but we’re trying to make it as bearable as possible, okay?” he said as the winds began to slow around them again. “How about I get you some coffee? I’ll even run home and get you the bag of that stuff you love so much. You can drink it while we talk with Craig, just like I said you could.”

Tweek bit his lip as the winds finally came to a stop. Maybe he was wrong. If they were all after him, if they were all trying to kill him like he’d thought, then why were they trying so hard to keep him calm? Why weren’t they attacking him already despite the mess he’d just made of the room? Did they really think he was evil, or had he blown that out of proportion, too?

“You’re doing great, Tweek. Come on, just sit back down and we’ll have Nicole come in and take care of you until we can get Craig in here,” Token said. 

“Nicole?” Tweek asked, his eyes widening with anxiety.

Kenny jumped in immediately to try and stop Tweek from getting stressed again. “She’s just going to fix up your hand. Look, you’re bleeding. You need to stop pulling out the IV,” he said, gesturing to Tweek’s dripping hand.

Tweek looked down quickly. He hadn’t even realized he’d pulled it out yet, but he had, and his fingers had been picking at the open, oozing wound without him even noticing. Blood caked underneath his nails and stained his skin, and was now dripping onto the floor. He made a noise of both shock and fear upon seeing the amount.

“See? You’re hurting yourself, babe. Just sit down and we’ll get you all fixed up, okay?” Kenny urged.

“She’s not gonna get me again, is she?” Tweek asked anxiously.

Kenny blinked, thinking about what he meant for a moment before realizing and letting out a soft, humourless laugh. “No, she’s not going to sedate you again. I won’t let her.”

“Promise?” Tweek whimpered.

“Promise.” 

He believed him. Tweek slowly got back onto the bed, and Token called Nicole in. 

She entered with her hand behind her back, which immediately set Tweek back on edge. He scooted to the edge of the bed that was farthest from her when she got to his side.

Kenny walked over to the other end in an attempt to distract Tweek so she could hide the syringe somewhere and work on his hand, but Tweek wouldn’t take his eyes off the doctor. 

“Do you want to hold my hand while she cleans you up and puts the IV back in?” Kenny asked, trying to catch Tweek’s attention. “I know how you are about this stuff.”

“She's hiding something behind her back,” Tweek said, his eyes wide with fear. 

“It’s just bandages, don’t worry,” Kenny said. His urgency to get Tweek to look away increased immediately. 

“Then why is she hiding them?” Tweek asked, shrinking away from her and more towards Kenny. He gasped when he saw the end of the plunger from his new perspective. He kicked out to get away from her, effectively pushing himself off the bed and into Kenny’s waiting arms. 

Tweek screamed at Kenny’s hold. “AGH-! You lied to me! You lied to me and I believed it! She’s gonna get me and you were just going to let it happen!” 

“Tweek, hold on,” Kenny said quickly. “She had it before she came in here, she wasn’t going to use it-”

“You  _ promised  _ and it was a lie!” Tweek panicked.

Kenny didn’t quite have an answer to that. Maybe it would have been better if Nicole had walked in holding it in plain view, then put it away while Tweek was watching so he wouldn’t panic. 

No, no, he would have panicked anyway the second he saw it. There really was no avoiding this situation in hindsight.

Tweek began to hyperventilate when Kenny didn’t have an answer. “Let go of me! I have to get out of here! Let me go! AGH!”

“Guys, this is useless!” Stan finally spoke up. He’d stayed silent earlier as he’d never been the best at comforting others or de-escalating stressful situations. “Just stick him and get it over with!”

Tweek flashed a look of betrayal at Stan. “So you  _ were  _ all lying!” he cried. He couldn’t believe it- they went through all this trouble just to sedate him in the end? Those  _ bastards! _

Tweek felt electricity surge through his body. He sent a strong jolt of static up Kenny’s arms, which caused him to release Tweek with a gasp just as Wendy smacked Stan for his idiotic comment. 

Tweek scrambled away from Kenny as he tried to gather his bearings and cornered himself as far away from the others as he could get. 

“Stan is just an idiot, Tweek, we’re not going to hurt you, so just-”

_ “LIAR!”  _ Tweek snapped. He yanked desperately at his hair, trembling so hard he seemed to be vibrating. “You’re all liars! I can’t believe I trusted you!”

“Tweek-”

_ “ENOUGH!”  _ Tweek screeched, his body starting to levitate as his eyes turned white. His voice was distorted once again. “What were you gonna do with me once I was asleep, huh? Kill me? Dissect me? Throw me in a cell?! I’m not the guy you think I am! I didn’t do it! I’m not evil!”

A strong gust of wind sent everyone flying back into the farthest wall. “No more! I won’t let you abuse me anymore! I’m not evil, I’m not! If I’m going to die, it’s going to be when my name is cleared!”

“We don’t think you’re evil, Tweek!” Wendy yelled. “I promise, we weren’t going to hurt you!”

“Then that makes you a  _ liar,”  _ Tweek hissed, thrusting his finger in her direction. 

“We’ve been spending too much time trying to calm him down! Let’s just fight!” Stan growled. He opened his toolbox and dug out his power drill and a screwdriver.

Tweek’s head sharply turned to look at him, his brow furrowing in anger as the winds quickly grew out of control. Anger clouded his vision as thoughts of his wants and safety filled his mind. Tweek balled his hands into fists and pulled his arms to his chest as visible electricity shot up and out his torso and the side of his face. 

Unable to argue as the situation had grown fully out of control, Wendy took a fighting stance next to Stan. Token stepped in front of the two and set up a shield as Kenny grabbed Nicole and brought her behind it as well.

Tweek took a side step toward the door. He wouldn’t fight unless they hit him first, angry as he was. He had to prove that he wasn’t bad! He would prove that he wasn’t evil! He wouldn’t make the first move! 

“Don’t let him get away! He could destroy the town!” Stan shouted, powering up his drill and shoving it into the ground for his most powerful attack. 

Giant drill heads poked through the ground in a diagonal fashion towards Tweek, who simply stepped to the side, away from the door. He glared at Stan, bearing his teeth angrily as visible strands of electricity shot up through his hair. 

“You’re making it worse, Stan!” Wendy snapped. “Tweek, we know you don’t want to hurt anyone-”

_ “You _ want to hurt  _ me!”  _ Tweek hissed. He held his arms out to the side and allowed the winds to grow stronger and stronger until the pressure from the air all but crushed the heroes against the wall, the move sending every item in the room flying towards them while also breaking the window.

It wasn’t an attack. It was a means of protecting himself. They were after him. Other than the items flying at Token’s shield, the winds were really nothing more than a tactic to slow the heroes down. 

“Guys, we either need to take him down or get the hell out of here!” Token yelled. “My shield is breaking down way too fast!”

As soon as he said that, the winds rushed forward more violently, causing the bed to flip and fly into the wall, effectively destroying it, the cheap metalwork of the frame exploding from the force, but the pieces didn’t spread far due to the pressure from the wind and the mattress pinning them even more firmly in place.

“We can’t let him get away!” Kenny cried back. “He’s too unstable to be out in public!”

“Take him down it is, then,” Stan said. He dug his screwdriver out of his toolbox and pushed past Token’s degenerating shield to slowly make his way toward Tweek, his shoes thankfully grippy enough to keep him from slipping back on the wood as he forced his way through the rushing air, screwdriver at the ready like a dagger.

Tweek thrust his hand out in front of him and sent a streak of blinding lightning at Stan, who quickly tossed his screwdriver off to the side when he saw it coming. The small item attracted the electricity like a lightning rod. Stan then reached in his jacket and grabbed his wrench as he forced himself to push harder against the wind.

Tweek didn’t have any time to dodge or counter after Stan suddenly sped up, closing the short distance between them in no time. He brought his wrench down hard against the top of Tweek’s skull, aiming to knock him out.

The blow only served to distract Tweek, making him clutch at his head in agony as the winds died down from his loss of focus. In a last ditch effort to save himself, he blew out an icy gust of air, freezing Stan from the neck down.

Thinking he finally had time to make his escape, Tweek took a step backwards so he could bolt out the door, but was stopped as a firm hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back more as a blinding pain shot through the side of his back and out the side of his stomach.

The winds came to a stop as he screamed and howled in agony, doubling over and clutching at his stomach only to find a long, sharp piece of metal poking through it. 

He looked up, endless tears streaming out of his eyes as he identified his attacker. 

“Ke-Kenny?” he managed to choke out.

The hand on his shoulder and a small amount of the pressure in his back were removed as Kenny pulled away, his eyes wide and his hands open against his chest, like he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. 

As it turned out, Stan’s bold move had given Kenny enough time to dig for one of the broken metal pieces out from under the mattress. The piece he’d grabbed was long, and sharpened at one end from the breakage, perfect for spearing and skewering.

He hadn’t intended for the wound to be fatal when he’d snuck up behind Tweek, or, at least not instantly so, as Kenny had gone for the most non-vital area he could while also aiming center mass. 

“Why?” Tweek croaked.

Kenny went rigid with guilt and fear as he stared at the sharp end of the rod which stuck out of the side of Tweek’s stomach, being held in place with Tweek’s shaking hands. He hadn’t meant for it to go all the way through. He didn’t even want to stab him in the first place, but he’d felt as though he’d had no other choice.

“Tweek… I-I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I just… I just couldn’t let you kill Stan.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him,” Tweek sniffled as he slowly backed away, his legs trembling dangerously as they threatened to give out from the intense pain he was going through. “I never wanted to kill any of you. I just- just-”

The words died in his throat as he realized what he had done. Kenny and Wendy had tried so hard to convince him that they didn’t think he was evil, and here he was, destroying the base’s infirmary and freezing one of his former allies.

He really was the villain.

Upon realizing this, Tweek’s eyes grew wider and he took another shaky step back, now side by side with a frozen Stan. 

“I’m sorry-” he choked out, taking another step back. 

Kenny broke out of his shock when he realized Tweek was going for the broken window. He lurched forward to stop Tweek from escaping, only managing to grab him by the ankle as he’d thrown himself outside in the most ungraceful way possible. 

Tweek screamed in agony as his body smacked against the outside of the building, jarring the metal in his side in the worst way possible. Tweek felt like every movement the item made was shredding his organs apart.

“I’m sorry!” Kenny gasped, grabbing Tweek more toward the knee to pull him up, but he let go with a shout as a strong jolt of electricity was sent through his arms.

By the time he’d recovered- only a quick second- Kenny rushed back to look out the window for Tweek, but the blonde was already gone.

“Tweek, don’t do this! Come back!” he shouted out, hoping the elementalist would hear him, but he quickly realized his words were useless. Tweek  _ wanted  _ to escape. What would he gain by coming back other than less freedom and increased security?

Kenny bit his lip as he backed away from the window. This was beyond serious. 

“Call Girl, get every hero in the city on this. We need Tweek captured and brought back to the base by any means necessary,” he barked. “Token, you get Stan out of the ice. I’ll go after Tweek as of right now. He won’t get far with an injury like that.”

Nicole nodded in agreement. “He’s going to run out of energy soon, or pass out from pain and blood loss. Unless he hides really well, you’ll get him.”

“Perfect,” Kenny said in a sigh of relief. He’d update Timmy on everything once he got Tweek back. For now, there was no time to spare. He hurdled himself out the window and landed gracefully on the ground. 

Thankfully enough, there was a trail of blood droplets in the snow for him to follow. The sun was going down fast, but he knew he’d have his little blonde escapee back in no time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I basically rewrote this entire chapter, and it. SUCKED. BALLS. 
> 
> I think I finally got it right, though. It's a lot more realistic in how Tweek handles his emotions and pain, so even though it sucked to go through and fix everything, I'm a lot happier with how it turned out.


	10. Let's Take You Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Tweek hovered through the wooded area behind the base. He was thankful that small forests laced the land around South Park. Otherwise, he knew for sure he’d have been caught right off the bat. 

It had been several long, excruciatingly painful minutes spent floating, twisting and turning to dodge trees left and right in the least painful way possible as he made his way back into the city. The energy he’d used to keep himself in the air so he wouldn’t jar his new wound with painful steps had left his already exhausted body completely spent. His mind flooded with relief when he broke finally out of the treeline, his escape was timed perfectly with the setting sun, as it had just set over the horizon, the only semblance left of it being there was the fading reds, pinks, and purples in the far distance, which were disappearing faster due to the mountains that shielded the town in a breathtaking view. 

Craig would have loved a picture of this, Tweek thought bitterly. He missed him. He missed when they used to go out and Craig  _ had  _ to take tons of pictures, “for the sake of aesthetic,” as he had claimed, likely to spare himself from the pain of being made fun of for his hobby, but one look through the camera roll showed that all he wanted was to capture were the silly and interesting moments in life. Rarely were there images of beautiful sights like this, but that might have been directly related to the fact that the two didn’t go out sightseeing much.

Tweek sighed. He might never get to share those silly moments with Craig again after all he’d done. He was a villain now, and villains didn’t let their boyfriends take pictures of them drinking coffee right out of the pitcher because there were no clean cups, or trying to eat an entire cupcake in one bite and failing miserably. Villains especially didn’t go around taking pictures of cute animals they found with their boyfriend while out shopping. 

Villains had to be cold and calculating. They couldn’t go out in public often, lest they be arrested on suspicion of criminal activity. Tweek didn’t even have the luxury of keeping his identity hidden, but that went for any human-presenting villain in this small town. All of the heroes knew Butters was Professor Chaos, and everyone knew Cartman was Mitch Conner. He was no different than the rest of them, though Cartman was allowed to continue being a hero because at least that way, people could keep an eye on him, and Butters wasn’t classified as a big enough threat to be arrested on sight. 

Tweek’s eyes widened. That’s it. Butters. He should team up with Butters. Not only did he have rapport with him from their frequent jam-out sessions as stressed out high school students, but the guy could offer him a place to stay,  _ and  _ it was safer in numbers. The heroes couldn’t throw him in a cell nearly as fast if he had some protection.

The only problem was, would he find that evil little sunshine child?

He looked down at his front and whimpered. He was going to die of blood loss before he got to the man. Not only that, his whole body hurt like a  _ bitch.  _ All he had that kept him going earlier were the painkillers and adrenaline in his system, but the rush of endorphins had long passed through his bloodstream, and the morphine was following, albeit more slowly, but still following. 

Tweek’s face twitched from both pain and irritation as he pondered where to start. Butters’ house might be good, but Tweek only knew the block he lived on, not the actual address. He’d recently relocated his base from the old storage lot, too, so that was also a no go.

Maybe he should try the library. Butters was always looking through history books and the like for new ideas on how to create chaos, but that was a long shot. Plus, the library was likely already closed, wasn’t it? 

He was starting to think that perhaps he should just give up on his plan when he heard branches snapping from far off and his name being called. 

_ “Tweek! Tweek, where are you?! I’m not mad, just come back! We can fix this!” _

Lies. If he got caught, he’d be thrown into a cell.Just because he and Kenny had been intimate with each other didn’t mean Kenny didn’t have a job to do as one of the leaders of the Freedom Pals.

That’s right. This was all just a manipulation tactic. 

A rush of anxiety and adrenaline flooded his veins once again, giving him the energy and the pain tolerance to keep pushing forward into the town. 

///

South Park truly was a completely different place at night. Prostitutes lined every street corner, druggies hid in back alleys with knives, ready to mug anyone who might pass by so they could get their next fix, gang members lurked in empty parking lots and run down buildings, and the bars were packed with their own fair share of suspicious people. 

Dangerous and harmless alcoholics alike roamed the streets aimlessly after their sorry butts had been kicked from the bars for either being too violent or too pushy with girls. It wasn’t abnormal for drive-by shootings and hit-and-runs to be conducted on these streets, either. 

As Tweek limped along the sidewalk, he kept in mind that no one dared to bother injured people at this time of night to keep his anxieties down. No one wanted to be the one responsible for someone’s trip to the hospital or police station, no one out at this time wanted that kind of attention. It was always cool to be the one to find the dead body in the morning, though.

Tweek looked over his shoulder nervously. He knew Kenny wouldn’t give up on him easily. He had to find shelter quickly before he either got caught or bled out. 

He cut through alleyways, being fully aware that doing so also meant he’d have to keep an eye out for violent druggies. Tweek wasn’t sure he could take a fight with the state he was currently in. One more hit and he’d be dead for sure. 

Thinking he was safe for the moment, he pressed himself against a wall in one of the alleys he had hidden in. He winced and cried out pathetically when the rod speared through him brushed against the brick wall from the action, jarring his insides. 

He looked down and considered whether or not he should take it out, but decided against it as, one, it would hurt worse than when it had been put in, and two, it was probably keeping him from bleeding out faster than he already was.

At this point in time, the hand he had picked at had finally scabbed over, but the dried blood on his skin made the open wound look worse than it was. His scalp felt itchy and was wet to the touch when he went to scratch it, meaning Stan had likely made a gash there. His stomach was bleeding heavily, having stained his gown and boxers to the point that he looked like an escaped body from the morgue. God, there was so much blood. 

Tweek didn’t think he had this much blood in his body let alone  _ more,  _ and enough to keep him going for a short while longer, at that, though he felt slightly woozy.

He bit his lip as he clutched at the end of the rod, trying to keep it steady so it wouldn’t bob around more as he moved. 

_ “Tweek? Tweek, come out already!”  _ Kenny’s voice echoed, and Tweek hunkered down, pressing himself up against the side of a loaded dumpster for cover as he prayed sepsis or disease wouldn’t set in from such an act. 

He heard hurried footsteps stop abruptly by the entrance of the alley where he hid and pressed his free hand to his mouth, not even breathing as he prayed even harder that he wouldn’t be found.

A bright light shone down the path, shining straight, then left, then to the right where he was crouched. 

Tweek held his tongue between his teeth so tightly he was scared it had started bleeding, too. 

“This is  _ useless,”  _ Kenny spat as he started his quick pace back up to check the next alley over.  _ “I’m never going to find him like this.” _

Tweek slowly let out a shaky breath as the footsteps could be heard getting farther and farther away. He was safe, for now. He’d avoided being spotted once, but when the other heroes joined in on the search, he knew for sure he wouldn’t get so lucky again.

He moved to get up, but his legs seemed to disobey him. He reached up to grab at a crevice between the bricks in an attempt to force himself up, but his body felt so heavy. He was so tired, everything hurt so much. The edges of his vision began to fade, darkness reaching inward with greedy intent to swallow the rest of his sight whole. 

He stayed conscious just long enough to hear a pair of heavy feet thud before him, and a voice he recognized saying something he couldn’t quite make out entirely as his ears began to ring so loud they drowned out all other sound. 

The words he did hear, however, stayed with him even as he fell into the icy hands of unconsciousness. 

_ “I’ve finally found you. Let’s take you home.” _


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to take this moment to apologize for my frankly terrible and dirty, dirty joke.
> 
> Updated as of 05/28/2020

_ “What do you mean you lost him?”  _ Timmy growled through his projection into Kenny’s mind. 

“I thought you saw the whole ordeal on the surveillance cameras,” Kenny said. “After he got out through the window, I wasn’t able to find him again.”

_ “With an injury like that?! Impossible!”  _ Timmy was furious.  _ “I have half a thought to believe you let him get away.” _

“Never,” Kenny said quickly. “I followed your orders to the letter. He was never alone for a second before he escaped, I used the utmost caution possible when approaching him, and I reminded myself he was dangerous and unstable with every interaction we had.”

_ “Then why didn’t you use force before the situation got out of hand?” _

Kenny paused. “I…”

_ “I realize your feelings for him, Mysterion. They’ve made you useless against him. Perhaps it was my mistake to allow you as the first watch post.” _

“You said you’d rather have him alive and calm than dead or destroying the city,” Kenny protested. “I was the best choice for the post if that’s what you really wanted.”

_ “I do believe I informed you that one wrong move on his part and he was to be restrained and sedated immediately.” _

“I  _ did  _ that-”

_ “And you felt guilty about it afterward so you settled for an attempt at talking him down, then continued to do so when you had backup, and lost your chance to have him sedated when Nicole was right beside him.” _

Kenny had no argument. Timmy knew his mind better than anyone else’s seeing as they spent so much time together. He knew the truth behind his actions. 

_ “You were so concerned with maintaining his likeness toward you that you allowed your judgement to be clouded, and then you let him escape.” _

“Maybe it’s true that I didn’t act according to protocol because I still wanted him to like me back, but I did  _ not  _ just let him get away. He’s safest when he’s with us. What would I gain by letting him escape? I can’t protect him if he’s not here,” Kenny argued.

_ “You wouldn’t be allowed to protect him if he  _ were  _ still here,”  _ Timmy seethed.  _ “Not after the stunt you pulled.” _

Kenny’s brow twitched with frustration as he desperately tried to keep his calm. “Look, does it even matter? Every hero in the city is after him now. His escapee status has made him the number one most wanted criminal in South Park. We’ll have him back in no time, and when we do,  _ I’m  _ your best shot at keeping him stable.”

_ “I find it laughable that you think he’ll ever put his trust back in you after you gave him an injury like that,”  _ Timmy taunted. He narrowed his eyes as he gave his next thought.  _ “Should he be alive to put trust in anyone again, that is.” _

“What do you mean?” Kenny asked. 

_ “You’d be naive to think that that wound wouldn’t be fatal without swift medical treatment.” _

Kenny gulped. “Maybe he went to a hospital,” he said, his heart feeling like lead in his chest.

_ “How would he explain such an injury to the public’s medical staff?”  _ Timmy asked.  _ “You know as well as I do that he values his secret identity. To go to the public for assistance would be suicide for his personal confidentiality.” _

“Medical staff are bound by policy to keep patient information under wraps.”

_ “You were bound by policy as well, if I do recall.” _

“You’re being an asshole.”

_ “What I’m saying is that rules won’t stop them from talking. Plenty of nurses are fired every day for disclosing patient information. And what about the media? They would be crawling all over a story like this. Tweek would never be able to keep his identity secret.” _

“So you’re saying he’s either dead or he’s given up his identity as a hero?”

_ “Seeing as there haven’t been any actual news reports in this area of a blonde man getting impaled, I believe death is the most relevant possibility.” _

Kenny didn’t know whether to laugh or scream at that, so he kept his expression neutral. He wouldn’t give Timmy the satisfaction of a reaction for his dirty joke.

_ “My, you are angry.” _

“Says you. Your jokes aren’t funny,” Kenny huffed. “This conversation is over. I’ll check every medical facility in the town for him.”

_ “See if they can restore your common sense while you’re out and about.” _

Kenny stalked away, grumbling to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear this chapter is relevant to the end goal, I swear!
> 
> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Three days had passed. Three days. Kenny had endlessly searched the city, but nothing seemed to turn up. 

He’d checked Tweek’s parent’s coffee shop, even going as far as to search their house. He’d checked every clinic, hospital, and pharmacy, but nothing turned up. He searched the stores Tweek used to frequent and even searched Craig’s house when the brutalist wasn’t around, and he’d surveyed the city day and night, searching alleyways, abandoned buildings, and bars alike, but so far, nothing. 

Everyone he asked claimed to not have seen Tweek. Strangers would stare at the picture he presented and say, “Hey, isn’t that the elementalist boy?” and only gave instances of seeing him on the news the night he made those twisters.

Wonder Kid’s face had posted everywhere, convenience stores, newspapers, wooden posts, and milk cartons. The only information the public had been given was that he was missing, and to report any sightings, but not to approach him.

Tweek had to be past Denver by now, if he wasn’t dead. Timmy had been searching statewide for any news reports or articles of identified and unidentified bodies found alike. He’d gotten help from Jimmy and Wendy to hack into the medical databases of several nearby counties to search for any patients admitted with similar injuries to what Tweek had. 

All of the heroes were also on Tweek’s case. They covered more ground when searching the city day and night, but anywhere they seemed to look, Kenny had already checked three times over.

It was useless, all useless, Kenny couldn’t help but think as he kicked at a pebble on the roof of the tallest building in town. He’d been viewing the city from there for an hour, looking down at the pedestrians below, trying to pinpoint anyone with similar hair to Tweek, or similar body movements.

So far, no such luck. Tweek was more than just unique in appearance- he was one of a kind. It seemed no one else really came close to that strung out, bed-headed, I-care-but-it-doesn’t-look-like-it appearance.

Guilt wracked Kenny’s very core. Maybe Tweek was long gone, whether that be in the sense of him being dead or far, far away. Either which way, he’d likely never see him again. 

Kenny wasn’t quite sure he’d be able to live with being the cause of Tweek’s death. He couldn’t live on with the blood of someone he loved on his hands- though, of course, he’d have no other choice. 

“Heard you haven’t slept since Tweek went missing,” came a voice from behind him.

Kenny didn’t jump, but his shoulders tensed. He stood and turned to face Craig, who was standing still as a rock behind him, his arms crossed. 

“I never took you for being stealthy,” Kenny said.

“Never took  _ you  _ for being spacey,” Craig retorted.

“Just leave me alone. Aren’t you looking for Tweek, too? This spot is taken,” Kenny huffed, flipping his cape as he spun on his heel to resume his watch.

“Actually, I was looking for you,” Craig said.

Kenny looked back at him over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

Craig moved to crack all his knuckles at once, then popped his neck. “Token told me everything.”

“So you want to fight me, then?” Kenny asked, turning his head back to look over the town. 

“I kept my cool after you had sex with Tweek. I kept my cool when you wouldn’t let me near him after he got hurt. Now he’s dead, and it’s all your fault,” Craig said, his voice monotone.

“You don’t sound all that angry for someone who’s just lost someone important to them.”

“You don’t sound all that devastated for someone who  _ killed  _ that person.”

“How do you even know he’s dead? We haven’t found a body,” Kenny sighed.

“How do you know he’s alive after what you did?” Craig shot back. “Stand up. I’m not here just to talk.”

“I’m not going to fight you.”

“Scared you’ll lose?” Craig asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Tweek wouldn’t have wanted us to fight.”

He didn’t even have to look back to know that Craig’s hands had fallen to his sides. It wasn’t manipulation. It was the truth. Tweek would have hated to see the two of them fighting, no matter how much Kenny thought he deserved to get his ass beat. He couldn’t disappoint Tweek anymore. 

“What would Tweek have wanted, then?” Craig asked softly.

“You were his boyfriend way longer than I was. You tell me,” Kenny said.

“I guess…” Craig made a noise of frustration. Kenny could practically hear the man’s face distorting in disgust. “He would’ve wanted us to get along.”

Kenny nodded. “He would have wanted us to be happy.”

Craig let out a long breath through his nose. “You’re lucky I love Tweek more than I hate you.”

“I know you want to kill me, but it won’t solve anything,” Kenny said. “In the end, I’ll come back like I always do, and you’ll never remember getting your sweet revenge, anyway.”

“You’re saying that like it’s a bad thing for you.”

“If he’s really dead, it’s going to haunt me forever. I’ll never be able to get away from it, no matter how hard I try. There’s no easy way out for me- I just have to live with it,” Kenny could feel a warm wetness dripping down his cheeks as his vision grew bleary, but it couldn’t have been tears. They couldn’t be. Mysterion didn’t cry.

Craig’s large figure plopped down beside him. He threw his legs over the ledge, letting them dangle freely in the air. “You really did love him, didn’t you?” he asked. “It wasn’t all just some ploy to get back at me. You actually, really cared for him.”

“What made you finally realize that?” Kenny asked.

“I’ve never seen you cry before.”

Kenny’s eyes widened. He quickly wiped at his cheeks, tears staining his gloves. “I’m just… I’m just more emotional because I’m tired,” he claimed. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”

“You should sleep. It’s not like letting yourself rest is going to stop everyone else from searching,” Craig said. 

“I don’t think I’d be able to sleep any if I tried. I’m worried. I’m stressed. Even if I do manage to conk out, I’ll have nightmares about him.”

Craig stared at the side of Kenny’s face for a moment. He was being so vulnerable. Why? Craig had wanted to beat the man’s face clean in just moments ago. It was like Kenny just… didn’t care anymore.

They had both lost someone they loved. They were both searching desperately for him. Kenny might have been the one responsible for Tweek’s injury as well as the one held accountable for his escape, but seeing him like this… Craig couldn’t find it in his heart anymore to blame him. 

“Sounds like you need a drink,” Craig said finally, his voice soft. “It’d relax you a little.”

“Maybe,” Kenny mumbled. 

They sat in silence for a while before Craig spoke again. 

“I’ll pay if you let me join.”

Kenny finally turned his head to look at him. “You’d really want to tag along? I thought you hated me.”

Craig rolled his eyes. “Tweek liked you. He liked you a lot. He’d always use you as his main reason to try to get me to join the Freedom Pals. Now that I’m with you guys, I can’t help but feel like he might be mad at me if I didn’t at least try to make amends with you.”

“Funny how just keeping him in mind is turning us from enemies to friends.”

“I’m not sure I’d call us friends just yet,” Craig said, scrunching up his nose. “But yeah, I get what you mean.”

Kenny got up and brushed the back of his pants free of dust and gravel. “Well, let’s go then.”

“Really, just like that?” Craig asked. “You don’t seem like the day-drinker type. I thought you’d make us wait.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Kenny said. “Plus, you need a drink, too, don’t you? I can tell there’s a lot on your mind.”

Craig gave him an odd look. “Don’t expect me to talk about it with you.”

“I’d never dream of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooo happy I got these last couple of chapters out of the way. I've really been wanting to focus on Tweek, but the story's pacing would be more awful than it already is if I only wrote what I wanted to write.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! The next chapter should be a lot more interesting.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see what all was changed, please check the end notes at Chapter 15.
> 
> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Tweek groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. Dim light flooded his vision, thankfully not aggravating his throbbing skull. He felt like a pound of bricks was resting on his chest as he tried to sit up, only to quickly lie back down when the movement shot blinding pain through his stomach and back.

“Oh, good! You’re awake. You were out for a long time there, little buddy,” came a cheery voice from nearby. 

“Butters?” Tweek mumbled. 

“Right-o!” His cheery face popped into Tweek’s line of vision as he looked over Tweek’s body.

“How did you-”

“You can ask questions here in a bit,” Butters said, cutting him off. “RIght now we gotta- um, gotta change these bandages.”

Tweek immediately brought his hands to his stomach, surprised when he realized he hadn’t been restrained in some way. “Do-Don’t touch it.”

“Don’t worry there, Tweekers. General Disarray taught me how to do this right. It won’t hurt too bad, but if you’re really scared, I’ll let you hold my hand!” Butters said with a reassuring smile. 

Tweek gulped. He didn’t quite know what to think about this situation. He wasn’t restrained and Butters was helping him without any suspicion? What did this mean?

“Now, first, I’m gonna help you sit up. Is that alright?” Butters asked.

Tweek quickly shook his head. “It hurts,” he said.

“Aw, I know, little guy,” Butters said with a soft frown. He gently patted Tweek’s head. “But if we don’t get you up, I can’t change your bandages, and if I can’t change your bandages, you could get an infection, and if you get an infection, it’s going to hurt a lot, lot worse.”

Well, Tweek couldn’t argue with that. He bit his lip and gave Butters a sad look, which made the younger man coo at him. 

“I know you’re scared, but Doctor Butters is going to make it all better!” Butters reassured him. He slipped his arm under Tweek’s back, thankfully not too close to his wound, and slowly helped him sit up, taking most of the strain out of the action. 

Tweek groaned in pain, but it certainly hurt a lot less than when he’d tried to sit up on his own. 

“ ‘atta boy,” Butters praised him. “You did such a good job. Now, just hold still while I take these yucky ol’ bandages off.”

Tweek nibbled at his lip as Butters started his work, which gave him time to look around. 

He seemed to be in a huge mechanical room that doubled as an infirmary. The walls were made of smooth cement, the floor matching it perfectly. There was a huge water heater with multiple large pipes sticking out of it and leading in different directions. It rested under a built-in second level, where a metal staircase led up to a furnace system, with a metal door visible at the very back that he couldn’t tell if it was where the breaker boxes and other important electrical stuff was held, or if it was the exit. 

On the other side of the room, another metal staircase led up to another metal door, which was more secure than the one he had noted a moment ago.

The place seemed to be brand new. There wasn’t a speck of dust or dirt anywhere to be seen. 

Other than that, there was nothing of interest. It was a spacious, mostly empty area outside of the machinery and the added medical equipment that was lined up next to spare cots which were stacked up along a strip of empty wall. 

A sharp tug against the gauze on his stomach made Tweek yelp, and he tensed as another sharp tug followed for the entrance wound on his back.

“Sorry, Tweekers. It hurts a lot more when you’re slow about it,” Butters said. “You’re healing up real nice, though! Now, I’m gonna put some medicine on this. It’s gonna sting a little, but then it’ll be all numb and you’ll be a lot more comfy.”

“Don’t-” Tweek gasped. He whimpered as a sharp, stinging pain invaded his stomach, then his back as Butters sprayed something in it. 

A few seconds later, the stinging ebbed away only to be replaced with a pleasant numbness. 

“There we go, little guy. Doesn’t it feel a lot better now?” Butters asked with a sweet smile.

“Yeah… Yeah, it does,” Tweek said hoarsely.

“Now, you just sit tight while I get some new bandages on ya,” Butters said as he reached for a roll of gauze from a clean, white desk Tweek speculated he’d bought from Ikea.

They were quiet as the bandages were wrapped cleanly around Tweek’s bare torso.

“There, all done,” Butters chirped as he tucked the end of the gauze strip into the top layer of Tweek’s bandages. He helped Tweek lie back down, his touch ever gentle, yet firm. “Now we can talk about whatever it was you were thinkin’.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Tweek asked.

“Well, uh, I try to be nice to everyone, Tweekers,” Butters said, tilting his head to the side. 

“No, no, I mean…” Tweek made a soft noise as he tried to think of the right way to put his words. “I mean, why did you save me? That was you who found me in the alleyway, right?”

“Sure was!” Butters chirped, grinning. “I was keepin’ an eye on you since you had that fight with Craig.”

“Which one?” Tweek asked, huffing a humorless laugh. 

“The one where he punched you into that building, a-and where you went all crazy and made those twisters! It was really cool,” Butters said, eyes sparkling. His grin quickly turned more sinister as he continued on. “There was so much  _ chaos!  _ You really scared everyone, Tweekers, even me!”

Tweek chewed at his lip while he listened. “Why is everyone saying it was me who made those twisters?” he asked. 

“Huh? You mean you don’t remember it?” Butters asked.

“Well, no. I blacked out after Craig punched me,” Tweek explained.

“Maybe you had, uh, a concussion or something there,” Butters said, “But it was definitely you. You were floating in the air, a-and you had a twister all around you, but you didn’t get hurt! And then you called yourself a temptress or something- I couldn’t really hear- and then you fell smack to the ground, and then Kenny dragged you off on a stretcher.” 

Tweek’s face fell. He’d been so convinced it wasn’t him that made the storms, but after finally hearing what actually happened, he knew he was wrong. Maybe he didn’t remember doing it, but it had definitely been him. 

“You okay?” Butters asked, seeing the look on his face.

“Not really,” Tweek mumbled. He’d already come to terms with the fact that he was a villain now, but he’d been so determined that if he could just drag up some other evidence or proof with Butters’ help, he could clear his name. 

Now, all his hope of being a hero again was gone. He did something bad that he didn’t remember, and now he’d be a hero again.

Still, there was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. If all he’d been told was true, then what had his motive been? His fight with Craig had been fake, Craig didn’t mean to punch him for real, and he knew it, so why did he try to destroy the town? Why did he call himself a “temptress” when he wasn’t even a girl?

His head began to throb the more he thought about it. 

“Now, uh, don’t go beating yourself up about all this, Tweekers,” Butters tried. He couldn’t stand the pained look on the other blonde’s face. 

“I ruined everything,” Tweek whispered. “I always wanted to help people and be good, but now I’m evil.”

“But you’re  _ not  _ evil, Tweek. You’re just a villain. There’s a big difference,” Butters said.

Tweek’s nose scrunched up at that. “How is there a difference?”

“Evil means you’re bad. Evil means you  _ want  _ to hurt people and do bad things to make others sad. Kinda like me, sometimes, when I’m really ticked off,” Butters said with a sheepish grin. “But if you’re a villain, a lot of the time you’re really just misunderstood. No one gets why you’re doing what you’re doing and they see it as bad, even if what you did was for a good cause.”

“Butters, I like you, I really do, but I think you’re entirely wrong,” Tweek said with a deadpan expression.

“No way! Just think about it! I’ll use Nikola Tesla as an example. He claimed to have created a working death ray, right?”

“I don’t read history books like you do. Wasn’t that the guy who made the lightbulb? I didn’t even realize he did more than just that.”

“Okay, well, all you really need to know is that Tesla possibly made this death ray. According to him, it was strong enough to destroy planes and kill people instantly. That sounds pretty evil, dontcha think?” Butters asked. 

“Well, yeah. It does,” Tweek said.

“Well, the reason he made it was so that he could put a total stop to all wars. The goal was to make it impossible for armies to invade other countries,” Butters explained.

“What? But it’s a death ray. It was supposed to kill people, right?” Tweek asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“It was an evil machine made by a man with a good cause, but any outsider who didn’t know what that cause was would think that maybe Tesla was evil because he made an evil thing. Like you did, right?”

“But a death ray  _ kills  _ people. Couldn’t he have been lying about it being for ending wars? He could have gone for global domination,” Tweek protested.

“But he  _ didn’t,”  _ Butters pointed out. “In fact, he kept it hidden so nobody could get to it and use it the wrong way. He’s a villain because he made a machine like that, but he isn’t evil because the intentions were good, see?”

“What if I don’t know what my intentions were when I made those twisters?” Tweek asked. He could hardly believe he could have done such a thing well-meaningly. 

“Then it wasn’t good or evil,” Butters said. “But it still makes you a villain because nobody else understands. They perceive it as bad, so it made you a bad guy to everyone else.”

Tweek bit his lip in frustration and looked down at his hands. He had a bandage around one of them. Why hadn’t Butters changed that one?

“Maybe we’re not exactly the same, but you’re a lot like me now, Tweekers,” Butters said. “Nobody understands why you’re doin’ what you’re doin’, even you. That makes you a villain, cause, uh, you don’t conform to society’s standards of being good.”

“But those standards are put in place for a reason…” Tweek protested.

“To keep people safe?” Butters asked. “Bah! That’s saying’s a lie made by the people running the world so we don’t rebel against them!”

Tweek made an odd noise. He’d always conspired that the government was against him. He’d always thought that maybe some of society’s standards were wrong when it came to the big picture for a variety of reasons, and Butters was validating one of them.

“I know you’re good, Tweekers. People just don’t get it right now,” Butters said.

“What do I do about that?” Tweek asked.

“Well, really, it’s up to you. You can accept it and keep doing what you’re doing, or you could keep bein’ a hero and prove them wrong.”

“I can’t be a hero when everyone thinks I’m evil…” Tweek whispered. “I’ll be arrested the second I’m out in the open.”

“Then join me,” Butters said. “My plan is to eliminate all the bullies in the world. We can get rid of all the prejudice and the evil that corrupts the souls of the many.”

“Where’d you learn such big words?” Tweek asked.

“Well, my parents would get real sore at me if I got bad grades,” Butters explained.

Tweek gave it a moment of thought before finally nodding and holding his hand out for Butters to shake. “I always thought you were misled, but after finally hearing you out, I get it.”

“You do?” Butters asked, eyes wide. He slowly reached out to shake Tweek’s hand.

“Yeah,” Tweek breathed out. “Us heroes were so focused on trying to stop everything bad from happening that we didn’t realize some bad things can lead to something better. Maybe like this, I can make a good name for myself. Maybe like this… I can finally make a difference.”

Their fingers interlocked, and they shook hands slowly, like they both were unsure.

“But no matter what happens,” Tweek said, “I never want to kill anybody.”

"Oh, heck no! In this legion, there ain't no killin' nobody," Butter's promised.

This was the start of something new. Perhaps a greater beginning, or the start of something terrible.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated as of 05/28/2020

Butters had left a short while ago to “take care of something,” as he’d claimed, leaving Tweek all alone in the room in which he couldn’t decide whether it was too hot or too cold. 

As he lay awake, absentmindedly plucking at the bandages on his hand, he cursed himself for not having asked more questions when he’d had the chance. 

He had so much on his mind, like why hadn’t he been restrained? Was he allowed to leave? How long had he been out? How had Butters known where he’d be after he escaped? Also, where did he and his assistant learn to treat injuries so well? To his knowledge, neither of them were doctors.

Similar questions swirled around in his aching head. He was hungry, but felt like if he even looked at food he’d hurl. He figured what he really needed was water, especially considering he hadn’t drank so much as a drop since his fight with Craig. 

_ Craig. _

God, Tweek hated himself at the very thought of his name. He so desperately wanted to make amends with him. He wanted so badly just to hug the man and beg for his forgiveness. Kenny had said that Craig was terrified after their fight, and Tweek desperately wanted to do something, anything to talk to him and tell him he was okay.

Kenny was probably just as scared. Tweek had treated him so badly when he was just doing his job. He’d screamed at him, destroyed the room, and then left him to deal with the mess. Tweek might as well have slapped him in the face and called him a bitch while he was at it, he’d been so out of control.

He didn’t want to go back. The last thing he wanted was to be thrown back in the infirmary whilst heavily restrained, or worse, locked in a cell, but he did want to be able to apologize to Kenny and let him know he wasn’t angry with him for just doing his job. 

“I’m back!” Butters called as he walked through the secured door. He made his way down the metal staircase, several plastic bags looped over his arms. He pranced over to Tweek and set the bags down next to him. 

“What’d you get?” Tweek asked.

“I got you some drinks and snacks!” Butters grinned.

“Is there coffee?” 

“I got you some cold brew. I didn’t know what flavor you liked, so uh, I got a bunch.”

Tweek pouted a little. He preferred his coffee hot, but this would do.

Butters handed him some tall cans of coffee flavored energy drinks and some smaller cans of cold brew coffee. 

Tweek checked the flavors and was intrigued upon seeing white chocolate mocha, salted caramel, regular mocha, and vanilla. Yeah, he preferred his coffee black, but new flavors were fun to try.

“I also got you some bottled waters in case you don’t like any of those,” Butters said. “And then I got you some chips and a sandwich. General Disarray said you should only eat bland foods and soup broth, but I figured since I can’t heat up anything, bready stuff and chips would be alright.”

“Since when does General Disarray know so much? I thought he was still in high school,” Tweek said.

“Well, uh, I get a lot of funding from anonymous sources, and he’s a pretty smart kid in all AP classes,” Butters explained. “Since I first started all this villain work and getting paid for it, I’ve been using some of the funding to get General Disarray into medical and tech classes. He really likes them a lot, even though they take up a lot of his time.”

“Was he the one who fixed me up?” Tweek asked.

“Well, he helped. He’s not a certified doctor or anything, and honestly he’s better at the tech stuff, but-”

Tweek cut him off. “If it wasn’t him or you who did it, then who did?” 

“Oh! Well, I hired a private doctor to do all the work so General Disarray could help and learn.”

“Oh, god, was he certified? Am I going to die from an infection?!”

“Hey! I’m not some cheapskate when it comes to stuff like this. You were hurt pretty bad, so I got the best guy I could find for the work. He drove out from a big hospital in Denver to treat you,” Butters huffed.

“Why am I not in a hospital in Denver, then?” Tweek asked.

“Well, you gotta lay low, don’t you? The heroes would’ve found you in a heartbeat if I took you to somewhere public. You’re the most wanted person in South Park, after all.”

“They really took it that far?” Tweek asked. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad. You can’t cross the street without running into one of your wanted posters or a hero tryin’ to keep an eye out for ya.”

Tweek winced. “How long do you think it’ll take till this all blows over?” 

“Well, uh, that’s the thing. I don’t think it’s gonna. A missing hero is a little more important than a missing kid. The public wants closure, and the heroes are on high alert because you’re labeled as a threat. No one’s gonna stop until you’re found.”

“Damn…” Tweek growled. “What if I sent a message out saying I was okay? That’d give the public closure, at least.”

“But then the heroes would have to search even harder for you,” Butters pointed out. “If they know you’re alive, then you’re gonna be seen as an active threat to the public.”

Tweek’s face fell at that. “So I can’t tell Craig and Kenny I’m okay?”

“Well, you could, but it puts you in more danger that way. They could track your phone’s location or something.”

“What if I used a burner?”

“A what?”

“A burner phone. You know, one you break and throw away once you’re done using it,” Tweek explained.

“Well, maybe that’d work…”

“Can you get one for me? It just has to be a cheap flip phone.”

“I guess, but you can’t tell anyone you’re with me!” Butters said. “They’d be real sore at me, a-and then I’d probably get arrested again, and you would, too!”

“I just want to let them know I’m alright,” Tweek assured him. “I wouldn’t sell you out, not after you helped me. Plus, we’re a team now, right?”

“Yeah,” Butters said, brightening up at the mention of “team.”

“So I can have one?” Tweek asked excitedly.

“ ‘course! I’ll get you one tomorrow while I’m out getting you some more food,” Butters said. 

Tweek felt giddy with excitement at that. He felt like he wouldn’t be able to wait. 

“And since you’ve healed up so good while you were out, I’ll even show you my new lair when you’re feeling up to it,” Butters grinned.

Ah, that brought an important question to mind.

“How long was I asleep?”

“You were hurt pretty darn bad, so the doctor put you in a coma for a couple weeks.”

“A couple  _ weeks?!”  _ Tweek screeched.

“Well, yeah. It was a pretty big ouchies,” Butters said, not quite getting Tweek’s frustration. “He said that if you moved too much, you’d pop your stitches and your organs would come out the holes, kinda like when you pull that little squeezy lever for a slushy.”

Tweek went pale at that, an odd, choked noise escaping his throat.

“Oh, yeah. When I told him how much you twitch and squirm and pick at your skin all the time, he said an induced coma would be for the best!” Butters continued.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Tweek cried. “GAH! That’s too much pressure! Everyone probably thinks I’m dead!”

“Yeppers! It really worked to my advantage. Everyone’s busier searching gutters and stuff for your body than buggin’ me about kidnapping you.”

“RGH-! Butters, this is a big deal!” 

“How so? I thought it was working out pretty well.”

“Craig’s probably devastated! He’ll be so pissed at me for texting him so late…!”

“I don’t think so, Tweekers. Well, I’ll bet he’ll be happy to hear from you at all,” Butters assured him.

Tweek whined softly. “Is there any way I can get that phone today?” he begged. “I can’t keep him waiting any longer!”

“Well… I guess I could make a second trip to the store today… But I’ll only do it this once! Any more than that would make it a bad habit.”

“That’s fine! Totally fine! I just need that phone!”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated as of 05/28/2020
> 
> It's likely there won't be any new chapters today, folks! I did a whole crap ton of editing, so I'm a little tired, plus I have some work I need to get done. 
> 
> See the end notes if you'd like to know the changes that were made!

“It’s been a month, Craig. Maybe we need to just accept that he’s gone and call off all this extensive searching,” Kenny sighed as he set his glass down on a coaster.

The two had become pretty good drinking buddies in the time since their little talk on the roof. Neither of them used to drink much outside of the occasional beer or two after a long night, or the odd celebratory binge after their favorite football team won a game, but as their circumstances had changed and they were both reeling to find a way to cope with the loss of their favorite little blonde, their drinking habits had gotten out of hand and they were teetering on a dangerous ledge that would soon lead to alcoholism if they didn’t make a change.

“No chance,” Craig mumbled. He downed his fifth shot of jack, then slammed the little glass down on the counter. “I won’t stop until I find him. I can’t move on until I get some closure.”

“It’s been too long,” Kenny said. “We don’t have any leads. We’re never gonna hear from him again.”

“If he’s alive, I know he’ll try to contact me somehow. Even if he was dead, I’m sure he’d find a way. It’s not like him to just leave me in the dark when he disappears.”

“He’s done this before?” Kenny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Craig held up three fingers. “Three times,” he said. “Twice when we were kids, once after we moved in together.”

“What happened?”

“The first time, he ran away from home because he failed his science class,” Craig said, smiling fondly at the memory. “He texted me that he was going to change his name and move to Nebraska so his parents couldn’t find him. I made it just in time to stop him. I really should’ve taken a picture. He had his coffee maker and thermos in his little hand basket and a bag full of clothes and food on his back.”

Kenny chuckled softly. 

“The second time,” Craig continued, “One of the Seniors threatened to beat him up at the start of the year. We were both Freshmen at the time. Instead of telling me right away, he skipped school and hid out in the woods for a day. God, I was so mad when he finally told me why he did it. I broke that Senior’s jaw and got suspension for a week, but no one ever messed with Tweek again.”

“I think I remember that. Tweek’s parents were asking everyone in town if they’d seen him,” Kenny nodded. “What about the third time?”

“Ah, that… Well, Tweek and I had finally moved in together before we graduated High School. I was doing hero work while also working that second, shitty job as a bouncer at Skeeter’s. Tweek was still working at the coffee shop, too. We were doing what we could to make ends meet. Well, he was really excited about going to prom that year because apparently Wendy and Bebe were going to make him look all nice for me, but I thought it was more important to earn some extra cash. Long story short, I didn’t ask for prom night off and Tweek was  _ pissed  _ when he found out.”

“So he ran away?” Kenny asked.

“He made a point to tell me I was the worst boyfriend who ever lived and disappeared for the night. I still don’t know where he actually went, but he told me he was safe when I texted him. I had to beg Skeeter for prom night off because it was a little late for a two week’s notice, but I figured that if I didn’t put in the effort, Tweek would never forgive me.”

“Makes sense. That was a pretty douchey move,” Kenny said.

“I know, I know, but I made it up to him. I used half my savings to make it the best prom night ever for him. I had Wendy help me find a suit that matched his, got him the biggest flower bouquet I could find and left it on the table in a vase with a bulk set of assorted coffee blends right behind it-”

“Did you get him a ring?” 

“No?” Craig furrowed his brow at that.

“You should’ve given him a ring,” Kenny sighed.

“He started crying when he saw the flowers. I don’t think a ring would’ve been near as big of a deal to him,” Craig shrugged.

“God, you’re so hopeless,” Kenny groaned. “You didn’t give him anything to last. He would’ve wanted some sort of memoir of that night.”

“Our prom picture is literally the biggest picture in the house, and it hangs right in the living room.”

“Yeah, that’s great for showing guests how much you two love each other, and it has a story behind it, but Tweek doesn’t have anything sentimental from that night he can really look back on.”

“But the picture-”

“You’re not getting it, Craig. You haven’t given him anything that’ll last. He doesn’t have any reminders of you to hold dear to his heart. Yeah, pictures are nice, but what about something he can actually show off or hold?”

Craig gave it a moment of thought. “I guess I never really thought about that. That sort of stuff never seemed important to me.”

“Maybe that’s another reason why you two fight so much. There’s probably a lot of things important to Tweek that you think don’t matter. You’ve been too distant to him, and I’m willing to bet it makes him feel like you don’t care about him as much as you do.”

“Maybe you’re right…” Craig said softly. “God, I’ve been such a bad boyfriend. No wonder he went straight to you.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. I just have more experience and can read people better.”

“You made him happy.”

“I could make you happy, too.”

There it was, that horny motherfucker. 

Craig narrowed his eyes at Kenny. “Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not going to hook up with you. It’s only been a month since we lost Tweek.”

“He would have wanted us to be happy. You said he would’ve wanted us to be friends.”

_ “Friends,  _ Kenny, not boyfriends, not fuck buddies, not anything else,” Craig said firmly. “It wouldn’t make me happy to have sex with you. My heart’s invested in Tweek right now, and it’ll take a long time for that to change.”

“I don’t even get a chance?” Kenny asked, making a pouty face.

“So help me, if you keep pushing it I will destroy you,” Craig growled.

“Sounds kinky,” Kenny grinned.

“How many drinks have you had?” Craig asked, scrunching up his nose. 

“Lost track after the fourth glass of whiskey.”

“You’re drunk. Go home, you bastard.”

“You’ll really make me go? All alone? In the cold? Buzzed as hell? I could get jumped.”

“I’ll make you wish you’d’ve been jumped instead if you keep this up.”

Kenny huffed. “Fine, killjoy, but I am serious. Walk me home.”

“Why?”

“You told me no, and I respect that, but I don’t think I can make it on my own. Plus, I don’t want to get arrested for public intoxication.”

“I am not going to carry you.”

“The least you could do is make sure I don’t end up face first in a garbage can, asshole.”

Craig groaned and slapped some money on the bar’s table, then stood up. “Fine.”

Kenny slowly got up and hobbled toward Craig, who hooked a finger under the collar of Kenny’s shirt to keep him upright and began leading him out.

Their phones both buzzed, one shortly after the other, but neither made a move to check them. If it was a distress call, the other heroes could handle it. It wasn’t like the two men could do much in their state, since Kenny was drunk and Craig didn’t really care.

Once they got to Kenny’s apartment door, Craig all but dropped the manwhore on the ground, then turned to leave immediately.

“You’re not gonna help me get to bed?” Kenny asked.

“No,” Craig said simply, already walking away.

Kenny huffed. Alright, alright, he finally got the message. No sex for him. He unlocked his door and walked into his crusty apartment with a scowl. He went straight to his bedroom and stripped down to his boxers, then set his phone on the charger before laying down and looking through his notifications for anything important as he settled in.

Three unread text messages. Not uncommon, since he’d constantly get texts and calls from the Freedom Pals’ members for work stuff, and he  _ did  _ have friends who talked to him, too, believe it or not.

What was odd was that one of the numbers wasn’t listed under a contact in his phone. 

Curious, Kenny finally unlocked his screen and went into his messages.

**[Unknown]: Hey Ken, this is Tweek. I’m alive. Just wanted to say sorry for the way I acted, but I’m not coming back. I love both you and Craig, and I hope you don’t hate me for leaving. I know you must think I’m crazy and evil now, but I don’t want to hurt anybody. Tell Stan I said sorry.**

Kenny’s eyes nearly popped out of his head from how wide they had gone while reading the message. Was that really Tweek?

He suddenly felt completely sober, a sense of urgency and anxiety overcame the booze in his system as he jumped straight out of bed. He had to tell Jimmy and Wendy. They’d be able to get the location tracked, hopefully. 

He clumsily forced his pants back on and forced his feet halfway into his shoes, wearing them the most uncomfortable way possible, but there was no time to waste.

He ran out of his bedroom and threw open his front door as he pulled up Wendy’s number first and called it. By the time the phone had begun ringing, he was already in the parking lot. 

Yeah, the base was a short walk away, yes, he had alcohol in his system, and yes, he was on the phone. He definitely shouldn’t be driving, but as he got into his car and jammed his keys into the ignition, he wasn’t thinking of anything other than “I have to get to the base  _ fast.” _

_ “Hello?” _

Kenny nearly screamed when he finally heard Wendy’s voice. “Get to the base now! I have a lead on Tweek! Bring Jimmy!” he shouted as he jammed his car into gear and squealed out of the parking lot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:
> 
> Updated Summary  
> Updated tags  
> Fixed formatting issue- no more double spaces  
> Fixed typos  
> Lightly reworked chapters 1 through 5. They were ugly and messy and bad  
> Heavily reworked chapters 6 and 9- they look almost like entirely new pieces, and much, much better  
> Lightly fixed information dumps to be clearer, shorter, and easier to understand  
> Reworked interactions and responses to pain and/or trauma to be more realistic


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I didn't have a chapter up yesterday! I got roped into more work and didn't have the time to write it out. Hopefully this sort of makes up for it!

“Anything yet?” Kenny asked for the fourth time in ten minutes. He’d been pacing nervously in the room, hovering over Wendy’s shoulder from time to time to see how the tracing was coming along. 

Wendy was starting to get irritated from the distraction he was being. The  _ tap tap tap  _ of Kenny’s feet and the  _ crickety crick creek  _ of the floor as he walked back and forth, back and forth started to sound more to the effect of explosions and gunshots as she continued on with her work, which needed intense focus. 

She couldn’t stand the feeling of Kenny’s eyes burning into her back and over her shoulder as she typed away at the computer which was connected to his phone. She could understand why Kenny was acting the way he was, but god, it was so annoying!

“Nothing yet,” she sighed. “Why don’t you wait outside the room?”

“I have to know where Tweek is the  _ second  _ you find out,” Kenny said, determination in his voice. He should have called Craig before he handed off his phone to Wendy. He was certain that the normally stoic brutalist would have broken down into an excited screaming fit at the news, but now it was a little late. 

“I’ll tell you the second I find out,” Wendy huffed. “I just want you out of this room. You’re being a distraction.”

“If you make me step out, I’m going to start destroying shit.”

“I’m going to destroy  _ you  _ if you don’t go away.”

Kenny growled and stalked out of the room to pace in the hallway instead. 

Mere seconds felt like an eternity. Minutes passed, five, then ten, then twenty as Kenny stared at his watch, impatiently shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited for Wendy to finally call him back in. What was taking so long?

He heard a loud groan of frustration from the room and peeked his head in to see Wendy getting out of her chair and unplugging his phone from the computer.

“Did you find him?” Kenny asked, breathless with hope. 

“There’s nothing. He must’ve used a dinosaur of a phone,” Wendy sighed. 

“So you don’t even know what town he’s in?”

“He’s in Colorado, if the area code stays true, but the prefix doesn’t narrow anything down. It was randomized, and the phone definitely doesn’t have a GPS chip.”

“It took you half an hour to figure that out?” Kenny growled.

“No, actually,” Wendy said, narrowing her eyes at him. “I spent all that time trying to see if I could track the cell tower his phone was connected to, but he had to have been in an area with little to no signal. I couldn’t find anything.”

“Shit,” Kenny cursed. “So there’s no hope of finding him?”

“I didn’t say that,” Wendy said. “If he sends another text from a place with a stronger signal at some point, then we should be able to track his general location. That’s probably a long shot, though. From the text being how it is and all this precaution with the new phone and the low signal area, I think he’s smart enough to know trying to text or call any of us again would be a bad idea.”

“So there’s no hope of finding him,” Kenny repeated.

“I literally just told you no. I think you’re an idiot if you believe you’re the only one he texted.”

“Other than Craig, I don’t think he’d have texted anyone,” Kenny said. 

"Same here," Wendy agreed.  “And though it's obviously a burner, I think there’s a chance that maybe he didn’t break his phone after sending out the message."

“Why? That’d increase his chances of getting caught.”

“True, but what if he’s waiting for an answer back from someone? Like Craig?”

Kenny gave it a moment of thought, then checked the messages on his phone quickly. 

“Don’t you think that if anyone else had received a message from him, they would have reported it to me or Timmy right away? I don’t have any messages with information like that,” he said.

Wendy hummed. “Well, I at least know for sure that if he texted you, he texted Craig. Maybe they’re busy talking on the phone right now.”

Or Craig’s hiding something, Kenny thought darkly.

“Message Craig and ask. If he’s talking to Tweek, we can get him here right away and I’ll be able to trace him easily,” Wendy urged, pushing Kenny’s phone up so he’d get right on it.

Quickly getting the blatant message, Kenny unlocked his screen and shot Craig a quick text.

**[Kenny]: just got a text from Tweek. We’re trying to track him. Has he texted you?**

He sent it, then tapped his foot as he waited impatiently for Craig to message back.

He didn’t have to wait long, as the little typing bubbles on Craig’s side of the screen popped up as he wrote out his text, then disappeared as he deleted it, then popped up again as he re-typed.

**[Craig]: No, I haven’t heard from him**

**[Craig]: What did he tell you?**

Kenny narrowed his eyes as he stared at the screen. He flipped his phone around so Wendy could see. 

“He’s lying,” Wendy said after she finished reading. “What is he trying to hide? Doesn’t he want to know where Tweek is?”

“I think I have an idea as to why he’s hiding it, but I can’t be for sure,” Kenny said. “And we can’t confront or punish him for lying because we have no proof of whether Tweek texted him or not.”

“Then what do we do?”

Kenny pocketed his phone and turned his back to her as he made his way to the door, then stopped just before he was out in the hallway. “I’m going to get his phone. If he deleted the messages, is there a way to get them back?”

“It’s an iPhone, right?” Wendy asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then yeah, if he’s smart and backs up his data to the Cloud like he should.”

Kenny nodded. “Perfect. I need you to be on standby for this, then. I’ll be back here immediately after I get Craig’s phone, so I need you to be able to crack the password and get to those messages before he gets here and fucks my shit up.”

“Will do. I guess I’ll just stay in this room until then so you know where to find me,” Wendy decided.

“Sounds great,” Kenny said as he finally walked out into the hallway. He pulled out his phone again to text Craig, a plan in mind.

**[Kenny]: Why don’t you come over and we’ll talk about this? It’ll be easier in person**

The little word bubbles immediately popped up on screen again as Craig sent his message, which Kenny replied to right away.

**[Craig]: If this is some trick to get me to have sex with you, I’m leaving and never talking to you again.**

**[Kenny]: No tricks, promise. I’ll be professional**

**[Craig]: Fine. I’ll be over in 10**

With that, Kenny slipped his phone into his pocket again and hopped into his car, making it back to his apartment with time to spare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm also looking to start a one shot or short 2-3 part chapter story to work on when I need a break from this fic, so I'd love it if you guys would give me suggestions to what you'd like to read. Thank you!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I go back to work starting tonight, so I won't have as much time on my hands to update as frequently as I have been. Forgive me for the inconsistency, but I'll be trying to post at least one new chapter per week from now on, though there's always the chance I'll be able to dig up the time and energy to write more! Thank you for your patience, and enjoy the story!

Craig stared at his phone longingly as he made his way to Kenny’s apartment. It wasn’t a long walk. Nowhere took long to get to on foot in South Park, small as the town was, but he still owned a vehicle: an old, beat-up truck that Tweek hated. 

Maybe it’s because Tweek hated it so much that he only drove it when he needed to. It sucked to drive and was loud as hell, but it was faithful- no break-downs yet- and it really came in handy when they were moving into their home. Tweek had only stopped complaining when Craig told him he could either suck it up and use the truck or carry his bed frame and dresser the half mile through town on his own.

Craig couldn’t help but smile at the memory. Their bickering might have been the best part of their relationship, next to the cuddles and their ridiculous dates. 

He couldn’t believe he’d almost lost all that. He knew the fights were all his fault. He’d been a bad boyfriend. He hadn’t treated Tweek right for years, and only now was he finally seeing it. Tweek deserved more. He deserved better, and now that he had another chance, now that he knew Tweek was alive, by god, Craig was going to make up for the way he acted. 

There was only one problem, one big one that stood in the way of his perfect relationship.

Kenny.

If Craig couldn’t get that manwhore out of the picture, he’d never be able to have his happy ending with Tweek. He’d try to steal him away, or lock him up tight so Craig would never see him again. Those were the only viable options considering how Kenny had the hots for his boyfriend as well as orders to keep him contained as a threat.

Craig’s brow furrowed in anger as he ran his fingers along the edge of his phone. He couldn’t let Kenny get his grubby hands on Tweek. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt his boyfriend again. He’d protect him at any and all costs.

He stopped in front of Kenny’s apartment complex, glaring hard at it as he set his phone to silent and slipped it into his pocket. He already knew Kenny would question him over the texts, so he’d deleted them. Nothing could be used against him if there was no evidence to be found. He just hoped Tweek wouldn’t send him another text or voicemail while they were talking. 

Craig made his way up to Kenny’s door and knocked loudly on the wood, though it seemed he didn’t need to, for just as his knuckles made contact with the door, it flew open, and a hand snatched his wrist, trying to pull him in.

Craig stood fast, not budging an inch as Kenny pulled. His action was futile against the brutalist’s strength.

“Get  _ in  _ here, asshole!” Kenny hissed as he pulled harder. “There’s no time to waste!"

Rolling his eyes, Craig stepped inside, then grimaced as he looked around the ratty apartment. 

Kenny darted over to his couch and sat down, pulling out his phone. He motioned for Craig to come sit beside him.

With a huff, Craig walked over to him and carefully sat down on the opposite end, the springs groaning loudly under his weight. 

“You really don’t seem all that excited about finally hearing from Tweek,” Kenny said suspiciously.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m soooo happy we got word he’s alive, but I’m pissed he texted you instead of me. It makes me think this is some sort of fluke,” Craig said smoothly. “Shouldn’t I have been the first person he messaged? How can we even be sure it’s him if he went straight to  _ you?” _

Kenny didn’t let the offhanded insult get to him. “That’s part of why I invited you here. I’m more than just a little suspicious of your claim that he didn’t message you.”

Craig scrunched up his nose. “I get it, but now I’m also pissed you don’t believe me. There’s nothing on my phone.”

“If you’re telling the truth, can I see your messages, then?” Kenny asked, eyes narrowed.

There it was. This was what Craig had cleared his phone for. There wasn’t a trace to be found of the texts or the voicemail. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, sparing a quick glance to make sure Tweek hadn’t sent him anything more, then handed it to Kenny.

He had nothing to hide. Not at first glance, at least. 

“Do you want a drink or something?” Kenny asked as he opened Craig’s messages. “I have some beer in the fridge.”

“I’ve had enough for tonight,” Craig stated firmly. 

“Then do you want a snack or something to sober you up a little more? This is going to take a few minutes.”

“I’m fine. Just get it over with and don’t fuck with my shit.”

“I swear this is all business,” Kenny promised as he clicked through the messages.

Craig looked elsewhere in the room. If he stared at his phone too hard, he knew it’d look suspicious.

What he was unaware of was that his effort to seem disinterested was working to Kenny’s advantage.

Craig stared at the dingy wall across from him, looking bored even as his heart raced from fear over Kenny possibly finding something. 

“Looks like you’re clean,” Kenny said finally after severa; minutes of clicking and scrolling. “Sorry I doubted you. Here, you can have it back.”

Craig reached out for his phone, and Kenny handed it to him face-down without any qualms.

He slipped the device into his pants’ pocket without a word and made a move to stand, keeping his eyes trained on the door.

“Don’t you want to talk more about Tweek?” Kenny asked.

“What’s there to talk about?” Craig huffed. “We don’t know where he is, and I’m not interested if his text told you about how much more he loves you than me. That’s why he only sent it to you, right?”

“He never said anything like you’re thinking,” Kenny said with a soft gaze. “He just wanted to say he was sorry and that he wasn’t coming back.”

“Then what’s the point of talking about all this? I don’t want an apology if he’s not going to send it to me in the first place. If he’s never coming back, I’m never going to get that.”

“You were all for hearing from him when we were at the bar. I thought you’d be beside yourself with excitement. What happened?”

“He texted  _ you,” _ Craig growled. He finally met Kenny’s gaze, his own features stone cold. “That means one of two things: either he’s done with me and only wants you in his life, or the text wasn’t from him in the first place.”

“Craig, you’re being narrow-minded. What if he was just scared?” Kenny asked.

“If he was just scared,  _ I  _ should have been the first person he went to!” Craig snapped.

Kenny put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, dude, I get it. You’re mad.”

“I’m  _ pissed,”  _ Craig corrected. “And I’m going home. I need to… think. About this. About all of this.”

Kenny gave him a soft look as he put his hands down. “If that’s what you want, then I won’t stop you,” he said gently. “Just know I’m here for you if you need to talk or anything.”

Craig was almost touched at how sweet Kenny was being. Almost, but then he remembered that Kenny was the man who would keep him from seeing his love again. 

“Thanks,” was all he said as he turned to leave. He could feel Kenny’s eyes burning into his back as he walked out the door.

He felt as though he was still being watched as he made his way back home, but he refused to show any weakness or fear. He kept his eyes straight forward on the sidewalk, and moved his phone from his pants’ pocket to his jacket pocket so he could clutch it tightly without showing it off.

He walked up to his front door, unlocked it, and stepped inside. After closing the door, he leaned heavily against it and let out a long, relieved sigh. Acting wasn't really his strong suit, but he felt as though he'd pulled off his little performance pretty darn well.

Now that he finally felt safe to do so, he pulled out his phone, only to pause when he saw the screen.

It was the same style of phone as his, an iPhone X, no case, but unlike his, where the screen was perfect and clean, this one had a small crack in the bottom corner and was covered in smudges like it had never been cleaned in its life.

This wasn’t right.

He tapped twice on the screen, already aware the phone wasn’t his, but was still surprised to see that instead of his lock screen of Tweek making a silly face, it was a picture of a scantily dressed woman with big, fake breasts sitting on a red sports car, legs spread. 

Without a doubt, it was  Kenny’s  phone.

That _bastard._

Craig grit his teeth so hard he felt like they were going to crack. He threw the phone to the ground so hard that it shattered and damaged the hardwood beneath it.

He turned and threw open his front door again, then kicked open the screen door, knocking it clear off its hinges. He didn't bother to close and lock the wooden door that still stood as he stomped off his front porch and down the street. 

To hell with whoever vandalized his house, there was something more important to worry about now. 

Kenny stole his phone, and now that bastard was going to pay.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, this chapter was long. At least it was fun to write. I'm sorry it took so long to post! Work has been hectic since I came back, to say the least, so I've had very little time to write. I hope you enjoy the new development!

Kenny pulled Craig’s phone out of his pocket the moment Craig had shut the door, a sour feeling of guilt tugged grossly at the inside of his stomach. He couldn’t believe getting the phone had been as easy as it was. 

He thought over his interaction with Craig for a long moment. If the man had been lying like he had believed from their texts, then he was a pretty damn good actor. That was hard enough to believe considering how awful his acting skills had been in middle and high school. Still, something had seemed off. Kenny just couldn’t believe Craig had been  _ angry  _ over hearing from Tweek. He should’ve been ecstatic over getting any word whatsoever from his ex-boyfriend. 

Not knowing whether Craig was still in the parking lot or outside his door, Kenny escaped through his window. If Craig was really, actually angry over Tweek not texting him, he was going to be  _ furious  _ over his phone being stolen under suspicion of him lying.

Well, truly, Craig was going to be furious either way. If he was lying, he was going to be pissed he got caught. If he was telling the truth, he’d be pissed over being under investigation. 

Kenny knit his eyebrows together in frustration. He was starting to hate his job, not that he’d ever quit. His relationship with Craig would never be the same after this, and to think they were heading down the path of becoming friends. Now, because of his job, he’d lost another chance at being close with somebody.

First Tweek, now Craig. It seemed that Kenny’s job just wanted to keep him from finding his own happiness in friends and lovers alike. 

He cast a glare down at the phone clutched tightly in his own grasp as he ran, finally reaching the door to the Freedom Pals’ base. 

Throwing the door open and stepping inside, he let out a soft huff, both from his exertion and frustration, then made his way up to the monitor room where Wendy waited for him.

“Took you long enough,” Wendy said with a soft smile as she held her hand out expectantly.

Kenny thrust the phone into her hand, though his heart pleaded for him to keep it. He had a job to do, he reasoned. Personal relationships meant nothing in the face of the greater good. He had to bring Tweek back and keep him contained, whether that meant he lost his chance at being friends with Craig or not.

“The password is zero-eight-one-seven,” Kenny said.

“Tweek’s birthday?” Wendy observed after a quick moment of thought. “Craig can be such a sap.”

Kenny huffed a humorless laugh at that. 

Wendy typed in the numbers to unlock the phone, then hooked it up to her computer. 

“I’m going to step out to stand watch. Craig’s going to notice his phone is missing sooner or later, and we need to be prepared for the aftermath,” Kenny decided.

“Do you really think he’ll be that mad? From what I know of him, he’s pretty rational,” Wendy said.

“Trust me when I tell you that he’s changed since everything happened with Tweek.”

Wendy didn’t argue with that, so Kenny stepped out to stand watch in the lounge room.

A quick glance at the digital clock hung proudly on one of the walls showed that it was eleven at night. Kenny was almost surprised to see this. So much had happened all at once that he couldn’t believe it was still the same day. 

He sat himself down on the couch and cursed himself for giving Craig his phone as a decoy. It would have been nice to occupy himself with it, though he supposed that the expensive item was nothing more than a smashed lump of shattered glass by now. 

He’d talk to Timmy later on about getting a replacement, he supposed. It wasn’t that big of a deal, he mainly used his phone for work stuff and porn, anyway. He could get back anything important he’d saved to the Cloud. 

Ten minutes passed quickly, and Wendy called out for him in the monitor room. “I’ve got something!”

Kenny darted to her side, eyes expectant and demanding. “That didn’t take long.”

“He deleted everything on his phone, but didn’t clear it entirely. I just had to break into his Apple account, and everything was still there,” Wendy explained.

Kenny nodded in understanding. Craig had never been all that tech savvy. Yes, he was logical, and even smart at times, but when it all came down to it, Craig was a brutalist, and brains and brawn don’t often come together.

“So what did you find?” Kenny asked her, breaking himself out of his thoughts. He was impatient to know.

“Three text messages and a call,” Wendy said matter-of-factly. She typed away at her computer, then brought up a screen that showed the texts.

**[Tweek]: Craig? This is Tweek. I want you to know that I’m alive, and I still love you. We didn’t get to talk after I blacked out and I want to see you and talk to you in person.**

**[Tweek]: You’re the only person I feel like I can trust even a little bit anymore and I HAVE to see you, but only you. I can’t go back to Freedom Pals. They want to kill me Craig! You have to understand!**

**[Tweek]: Please, just… when you get the chance, can you call me?**

Kenny frowned as he read over the texts. Did Tweek really think they were going to kill him? He knew Tweek had always been slightly delusional, especially so when he was stressed, but he should know that Freedom Pals had a rule against killing.

“Do you have audio of the call?” Kenny asked.

A few more taps at the keyboard pulled up an audio tab, which Wendy gestured to with a smile. “It’s pretty short,” she said, “But it could be what we need to find him.”

“Play it,” Kenny commanded.

Wendy pressed the play button and turned up the volume.

_ “Craig?” _

A moment of silence, followed by a soft sigh.  _ “Hey, baby…” _

_ “Craig, I’m so, so, sorry.” _

_ “Don’t be sorry, Tweek. This isn’t your fault. None of this is. Tell me what’s wrong.” _

_ “No, not here, not now, not over the phone. Meet with me.” _

_ “Where?” _

_ “Behind Raisin’s. Two a.m. tomorrow. Don’t bring anybody but yourself.” _

_ “Don’t worry, babe, I won’t tell anyone. It’ll just be us, I promise.” _

_ “...” _

_ “Tweek?” _

_ “Craig…?” _

_ “Yeah, babe?” _

_ “I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.” _

With that, the call ended abruptly. Kenny’s heart ached for Craig, who didn’t even get to return the goodbye.

“According to this, there’s also three missed calls from Craig’s end. I’m sure I could access the voicemails he left. It could give us an idea for his plans,” Wendy said.

“Go ahead and play them,” Kenny breathed.

Wendy started the first. 

_ “Tweek? Tweek, you didn’t break the phone, did you? Please, call me back. I have so much more I need to say. I have to tell you I’m sorry, too.” _

Wendy played the next.

_ “I guess you broke your phone… but this is all I can do right now to feel close to you. Babe, I’m sorry. I never should have treated you the way I have in the past. You deserve so much better, and I promise that from now on, everything I do is going to be to make it right with you again. Please, don’t hate me. I love you.” _

Craig sounded close to tears. Wendy played the third and final file.

_ “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, babe. I won’t let them get you. I promise I’ll protect you. Those fuckers won’t know what hit them if they try to hurt you again. I’m here for you, and I won’t let anything get in between us ever again.” _

A moment of silence. Kenny thought the call was done before Craig spoke again, his voice choked with tears and a repressed sob.

_ “I love you, Tweek. Please, please, just come back to me…” _

With that, Wendy closed all the windows and turned to look at Kenny, meeting his eyes. “What do you think?” she asked.

What did he think? What did he think?! He thought he was a monster! Tweek wasn’t out to hurt anybody- he just wanted to be left alone! He wanted to see the love of his life and get some well deserved comfort from him before he possibly disappeared for good. He wanted to apologize for how he acted. He wanted to protect himself from what he thought was a threat to his own life. 

All of that was harmless.  _ Tweek  _ was harmless, and here Kenny was trying desperately to find and contain him like he was some sort of threat.

And Craig… Craig just desperately wanted to be with the one person he loved more than anything else in the world. He wanted to make things right and have the happy life he’d always dreamed of with Tweek. He deserved happiness, and here Kenny was trying to wrench that from his grasp by keeping Tweek locked away.

Tweek didn’t deserve that. Craig didn’t deserve that, either. They deserved to be happy. Kenny couldn’t continue to go after Tweek in good faith. Orders or not, it was wrong of him. Timmy could try to blame his decision on how he had feelings for Tweek all he wanted, but Kenny had made his choice. HE wouldn't go after Tweek anymore.

“Clear the entries. Wipe the phone completely of any trace of those messages,” he ordered.

Wendy’s eyes widened. “What? But you just-”

“That’s a directive, Wendy. Take Tweek off the wanted list while you’re at it.”

“What?! But why?” Wendy protested. “We’ve been searching for  _ weeks!  _ We know where he’s going to be! We could have him back here in no time!”

“I know, and now it’s over with. We’re letting him go,” Kenny said.

“You’re  _ insane!”  _ Wendy cried.

“Listen, just-” Kenny let out a breath through his nose- “Just listen to me and do what I tell you. I’ll take the blame if Timmy finds out. I want him off the wanted lists and I want the search to be over with.”

“But he’s-”

_ “Wendy,”  _ Kenny said firmly. “He’s harmless. That… that thing that happened… It was a fluke. He hasn’t caused any damage to the public since. He’s been under control. He’s not a threat. He just wants to protect himself. We should respect that and leave him alone.”

Wendy still looked unsure, but she turned back to the computer and wiped the entries.

Kenny unplugged Craig’s phone from the computer and shoved it into his pocket. “I’m going to take this back where it belongs. You’re dismissed.”

“I don’t feel good about this,” Wendy admitted.

“You only did what I told you to do,” Kenny assured her. “This is what I think is right. Anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me.”

Wendy nodded in agreement to that, but she wrung her hands together nervously before reaching for her phone.

Kenny turned and walked off. If Craig wasn’t already on his way to the base, he was definitely at his apartment. There was no way Craig hadn’t noticed his phone was gone by now, and by god, he had to have been  _ pissed. _

Kenny was glad he was immortal, for he was sure he’d lose another life if he couldn’t talk Craig down when he saw him. 

Somehow, he didn’t see Craig on the walk back to his apartment, but he  _ did  _ see how his door was sitting in a broken, murdered mess on the parking lot pavement when he got back to the lot. He knew the door was his because the plated number, his apartment number, was the only thing that still shone pristine and proud in the mess of splinters.

So Craig had been to his apartment, it seemed. Kenny grimaced at what his landlord would charge him to replace the damages. Yeah, he didn’t care when it came to important stuff like exposed wires and rat infestations, but god forbid a  _ tenant  _ do more damage to the crummy building than there already was.

Kenny slowly made his way up the stairs, his heart fluttering at lightning speeds from anxiety. He crept along the hallway to his doorless apartment and peered in, only to see Craig sitting on his destroyed couch with a metal bat in his hands and a scowl on his face. 

The second they made eye contact, Craig stood up slowly, twirling the bat with a graceful, yet powerful flick of his wrist. 

Kenny put his hands up in fear. “I see you found my bat,” he said, trying to calm him down with a bit of humor as he backed up to the rickety metal rail that saved him from a good twelve-foot drop onto stained cement. 

“Did you find what you were looking for? I hope so, because you’ll be paying for it with your life,” Craig growled, his blue eyes, though angry, held a sort of calmness, a sort of collectiveness, like he’d made peace with the fact he was about to murder another hero in cold blood. 

“Craig, I swear it’s not what you think,” Kenny tried.

“You’ve got thirty seconds to explain good and well what you did and why you did it,” Craig spat, then stood expectantly, bat raised at the ready.

“I wiped the phone!” Kenny blurted out.

It certainly must not have been the answer Craig had expected, as his eyes widened and his shoulders slumped in the slightest, as though he were surprised. “... What?”

“I wiped the phone of all of Tweek's messages and your voicemails and- and everything!” Kenny said. He pulled Craig’s phone out of his pocket and shakily held it out to the angry brutalist, who just stared at the device as though it were some nasty insect. 

“Why would you do that?” he hissed. “Did you bug it? What are you planning?”

Kenny gulped. “I know you’re not going to believe me, but I had a change of heart.”

Craig’s eyes narrowed at him, and he swung the bat dangerously close to Kenny’s outstretched hand. The bones in his wrist were only saved from quick reflex as he snatched it away, holding the phone close to his chest like a lifeline.

“I listened to the voicemails, Craig!” Kenny gasped. “I read the messages and I finally understand now! Tweek just wants to be left alone! He’s not going to hurt anyone!”

“It took you this long to fucking realize that? You had to steal my phone and listen my  _ private  _ conversations to figure that out?!” Craig hissed. “What all did you hear? How am I supposed to trust you if you know everything?!”

“Because I love Tweek and I only want what's best for him,” Kenny breathed.

The rage in Craig’s eyes seemed to intensify at that, and he took a step forward with the bat raised as though he were going to strike.

Kenny crouched down, throwing his arms over his head and shutting his eyes tight as he prepared himself for the sharp, painful blow that was soon to end his life.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three.

A metal clang sounded from far off and Kenny dared to open one eye ever so slightly to see what had happened.

Craig was standing over him, his hands empty and at his sides, but balled up into tight fists.

“He asked to see  _ me.  _ Not you,” Craig whispered. 

“I know,” Kenny said, his voice a tight, high whimper he cursed himself for. He was supposed to be tough, unblinking in the face of death, but here he was, acting like a kicked puppy under the suppressed wrath of the huge brutalist.

“I’ll never let you have him,” Craig said.

“I’m not going to take him from you. Tweek should be the one to decide who he wants, and he made his choice. It was you,” Kenny said, his own voice finding strength as his fear died down.

Craig nodded, then crouched so he was eye-level with Kenny; wide, icy-blue eyes met calm, deep sapphire as they stared silently at each other.

“If you ever,  _ ever  _ try to come between us again, I’ll make you wish I had killed you here instead,” Craig whispered, his voice barely audible, but intense and unbreaking.

“I just want you two to be happy,” Kenny whispered back, his voice choked again as tears pricked at his eyes.

“Then do us both a favor and stay out of our lives.” Craig stood up. 

Kenny had nothing to say to that. The tears began dripping past his lashes. He'd ruined everything he could have had. Two of the greatest friendships he might have developed were ripped away from him in his effort to fight for the greater good.

As he watched Craig walk away, he couldn’t help but question himself.

Was it worth it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a new story in mind that I think I'll post a teaser preview to next week. If it works out, I'll be posting a new chapter to both stories once a week, with more focus on the new story to get it rolling.


	19. Chapter 19

Craig looked around nervously, checking over his shoulder and scanning along rooftops for anyone who might have been following him as he made his way to the meeting place. 

_ Don’t look suspicious _ , he reminded himself. He knew that if he kept checking for heroes around every corner, he’d definitely get caught due to his odd behavior. 

He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and set his shoulders back, forcing himself to seem relaxed as he made his way to Raisin’s.

The tacky Hooters knockoff was closed, for, even though the managers had dropped the whole “underaged girls in scanty clothing” trope due to multiple lawsuits and made the business more adult appropriate with of-age women and even alcohol, there was still a curfew set in place from when the business was catered more to horny little boys.

There was no doubt that every part of the building was vacant, It was hours after their curfew, and there wasn’t a car in sight. No lights were on either, and even the streetlights seemed to be flickering with the intent of confirming that no one was around. 

With one last glance over his shoulder to make sure he was in the clear, Craig darted into the alleyway and snaked around to the back of the building. He climbed his way over the broken, rusted fence which kept the garbage cans protected from trespassers, in a sense.

Empty.

Craig checked his watch. Two o-seven in the morning. 

Tweek was never late. He had terrible anxiety over being late to anything, and always made a point to be unbearably early to every event, sometimes by an hour, if he was really nervous. 

It was really out of character for him not to be here. Maybe he’d forgotten? Did Craig get the time or date wrong?

“Tweek?” Craig called softly, clearing his throat when the name came out choked and creaky. 

No answer.

“Tweek?” Craig tried again, a little louder now, his voice stronger. 

“Don’t be so loud!” came a harsh whisper from a dark corner, behind a trash can.

Craig didn’t even have the wherewithal to be embarrassed as his heart began to soar from hearing the familiar, squeaky voice. If his heart was beating out of control just from hearing Tweek, he was sure it would burst the moment he actually laid eyes on him. 

“I’m sorry, baby. Come on out, I’m here now,” he said quickly. He  _ had  _ to see him. He  _ needed  _ to pull the little blonde into his arms and never let him go again. 

A shuffling noise could be heard from behind the dirty metal bins, then a strangled cry as a stack of crates and metal milk jugs fell over, creating a huge ruckus that only seemed louder in the quiet, echoing space. 

Craig stayed in place, fearful that if he rushed over to help, he’d scare Tweek off. He waited patiently for Tweek to calm himself down from the noise he’d created.

It took a long while after everything had gone quiet again, but a familiar, shadowed face peeked out from behind the mess he’d created.

Craig bit his lip and held his arms out, making a needy little motion with his fingers, waiting for his beloved to jump into his arms.

What he had expected didn’t quite happen, as the small figure hobbled out shakily into the flickering light. 

Craig couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes, his jaw slack in the slightest as he took in his ex-lover’s appearance.

Tweek looked so tired. Maybe it was just the lighting, but the bags underneath his eyes made him seem as though he hadn’t slept in years. 

He was thin. He’d always been thin, but now he looked gaunt, malnourished, and his arms, which were clutching his stomach tightly, looked more like bones covered with a thin layer of pale, freckled skin. 

His hair was longer, too. One month without a cut or basic washing and combing had sent his style from being a classic, cute bedhead look to a complete and utter rat’s nest, which was only made to look acceptable in the slightest by a tight ponytail that kept it all out of his face. 

“God, baby, what happened?” Craig whispered.

“I… I was in a coma for a few weeks,” Tweek explained sheepishly. “I’m… I’m better now, but I get it if you don’t think I’m pretty anymore.”

Craig’s heart fell to his chest. All of that pain he’d gone through, and he was more concerned that Craig wouldn’t find him beautiful? Did he think he’d stop loving him just because he’d hit a little rough patch in his looks?

“Stop that. You’re perfect,” Craig assured him. “Now come here. You’ve kept me waiting long enough.”

Tweek bit his lip, and Craig could see the semblance of tears in his eyes by the faint lighting as he slowly made his way closer to him. 

Craig bent down and carefully lifted Tweek up, careful not to aggravate his obvious injury. He held Tweek close to him, and kissed him slow and sweet. “I missed you so much…”

Tweek gave him a shaky breath, followed by a slight hiccough as he tried to keep himself from devolving into a mess of tears. “I missed you, too,” he choked out, hugging him tightly around the neck.

Craig rocked him slowly back and forth as he kissed every visible inch of Tweek’s skin. “I’m going to protect you, babe. I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again,” he murmured as he hugged him tighter.

Tweek tightened his fists in Craig’s jacket tightly. “I can’t stay…”

“Don’t say that, Tweek. You  _ can  _ stay. You can be here with me. I won’t let anyone get you.”

Tweek buried his nose in Craig’s collar. “You know that won't work. I just had to tell you goodbye. A text wasn’t good enough,” he whispered.

_ “Please,  _ Tweek, stay with me,” Craig begged. “Just… stay…”

Tweek moved up and kissed Craig’s forehead lovingly. “They’ll never stop coming after me,” he whispered. “No matter how much you want to be with me, neither of us will be safe if we stay together.”

“Don’t say that,” Craig whimpered, his eyes filling with tears. “I need you. Let me make things right with you again. I want another chance to treat you better. You’re my world-”

“Craig,” Tweek cut him off softly. “I have to go.”

Craig grit his teeth, his heart aching painfully at the words.

“I love you so much, Craig, and I don’t want to leave you, but… I’m a villain now. I lost my job. I’m a wanted criminal. I don’t have that bright future with you I always wanted anymore,” Tweek continued. “Everything we didn’t want to happen in our relationship is happening now. I can’t expect you to support me through this when we both know it’s never going to end. Nothing will ever be the same again, and you don’t deserve to spend the rest of your life protecting me from what’s bound to happen.”

“What are you so scared of?” Craig asked. “That fight was over nothing. I’ve had time to think, and I know now that all I want is to be with you. I don’t care if that means I spend the rest of my life supporting the both of us. The only thing that’s going to make me happy is you.”

Tweek slowly pulled back to look Craig in the eyes. “If that’s what you really want, then you might not be happy for much longer.”

“What?”

“I can’t do this. I can’t break your heart,” Tweek whimpered, “But I don’t have a choice. You have to learn to live without me.”

“Why?” Craig shouted. “Why can’t you just…! Tweek, just stay with me! I’ll do anything!” 

“Shh, Craig, quiet,” Tweek said softly, cupping Craig’s face sweetly. “I know you don’t know much, and I don't have enough time to tell you everything, so… Do me a favor.”

“Anything,” Craig breathed.

“When I’m gone, you need to talk to either Kenny, Timmy, or Nicole. I think they know more about what’s going on with me than I do.”

“Why can’t you just tell me what you know? Why don't you have the time? We're alone here,” Craig begged. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to any of those jerks who put his love into this crappy situation.

“I’ve been here too long,” Tweek whispered. “Every second I'm out here in the open, there's a bigger risk they'll find me."

“Will I ever get to see you again?” Craig asked. He didn’t move to let Tweek go.

“I don’t know,” Tweek said. He gave Craig one last kiss, then pushed against his chest, signaling he wanted down.

Reluctantly, Craig gently placed Tweek back on the ground, but he grabbed for his ex's hand and squeezed it tightly. 

“I love you. Don’t forget that,” he said.

“I love you, too,” Tweek whispered back, quiet so the words couldn’t be choked with tears, and squeezing Craig’s fingers in return.

“You two are so sweet, but I think we’ve given you enough time to talk,” came a voice from the shadows.

Tweek tensed, his eyes widening in fear as he cast his eyes to where the source of the voice was coming from.

“Babe, go, I’ll hold her off,” Craig said quickly as he shoved Tweek behind him.

Wendy stepped out into the light, holding her phone in front of her, on a video call with Timmy. 

_ “You won’t get away,”  _ Timmy projected through the speaker.  _ “You’re surrounded.” _

Craig’s face contorted with rage. “Did Kenny fucking nark on me?”

“No,” Wendy said. “It was me.”

“Why?” Craig hissed. 

“I was the one who hacked your phone. Kenny wanted to keep it secret, but… it just didn’t feel right. I had to tell someone,” Wendy said, an apologetic look in her eyes. She seemed to be actively ignoring the death glare Tweek was sending her way.

_ “Call Girl did the right thing by informing me of your traitorous actions, Craig. Your choice to meet with Tweek without informing me, despite his current status as a wanted threat, is on par with the actions of a criminal,”  _ Timmy said.  _ “You will be receiving punishment, just as Mysterion will be.” _

Tweek gripped the hem of Craig’s jacket tightly. “Don’t hurt either of them. They don’t deserve this. I was the one who did everything. I coerced Craig into meeting with me and not telling anyone. It’s my fault. Just add it to my charges.”

_ “The both of them knowingly withheld information of your whereabouts. In aiding and abetting a criminal, they have gained criminal status themselves. They will atone accordingly.” _

“Craig,” Tweek gasped. “I’m so sor-”

“It’s not your fault, babe. It’s not your fault,” Craig assured him. “Doctor, Tweek doesn’t have plans to hurt anybody. He just wants to be left alone. He was saying goodbye.”

_ “Does he understand that if he leaves, it could very well mean his death?”  _ Timmy asked.  _ “He should be well aware that only Nicole may be able to provide him a solution to his pressing medical condition.” _

Craig’s eyes flicked to Tweek, an eyebrow quirking upward in question.

Tweek bit at his lip. “It’s been a month. I still don’t feel sick. I might be okay,” he said timidly.

_ “We will confirm that once we take you back with us.” _

“I don’t  _ want  _ to go back with you!” Tweek shouted. 

_ “You act as though we are going to mistreat you.” _

“I don’t want to live out the rest of my life in a cell or a hospital room!” Tweek snapped. “I don’t want to be sedated for being angry about that! You just want to treat me like a criminal! I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I won’t let you take me back, either!”

_ “I see talking is of no use when you’re like this. Call Girl, activate the team and bring them back to base.” _

“Understood,” Wendy affirmed, and ended the call. She pressed a button on her phone, then slid it back into her pocket.

Craig held his arms out to shield Tweek. “You can’t have him.”

“I know you think that what you’re doing is right,” Wendy said softly, “But please, believe me when I tell you that he’s safest with us.”

“He doesn’t want to go,” Craig said simply.

“We can try to take him peacefully. Just think about what you’re doing,” Wendy said. “You saw what happened that night. Our data received from his actions in the infirmary showed he’s dangerous and unpredictable when he’s under great stress. If we keep him contained, we can better control his actions-”

“Don’t you see that you guys are the ones stressing him out?!” Craig hissed back. He tapped Tweek’s side as a signal for him to run _.  _ “Do you really think you can control him when all you’re doing is making it worse?”

Tweek hesitated. He looked up at Craig’s face. Tweek knew he had to get out of here, but could he really leave Craig all alone when the Freedom Pals were going to lock him up?

Craig looked down and gave Tweek a faint smile, then a slight jerk of his head toward the exit.

That was it, then. Craig knew the consequences, and he still wanted Tweek to escape safely.

Tweek pressed his lips together and gave his lover a sad look, then darted away, leaving Craig to fend for himself against Wendy, but the heroine didn’t move. She kept her eyes trained on Craig.

“You remember that you’re surrounded, right?” she asked, quirking up a perfectly manicured brow.

Craig bared his teeth at her and took a step back, ready to follow Tweek and help clear the way for his escape, but Wendy spoke again.

“I know you both think we’re the bad guys here, Craig, but Tweek is sick. By keeping him away from us, you’re denying him the treatment he may need to survive.”

“Shut up.”

“You know I’m right.”

“I told you to  _ shut up,”  _ Craig hissed. “We both heard him say he doesn’t feel sick.”

“Does that matter when symptoms are still present?”

“You don’t know what they are!” Craig snapped back. “You’re just a computer tech, not a doctor!”

“I read the files, Craig.”

Before Craig could reply, a high pitched scream cut through the air, followed by a crack of lighting. 

_ “No, NO! Let me go!” _

“Tweek!” Craig yelled, turning on his feet and running after the source of the sound. He leaped over the twisted metal fence and rounded the corner to find Tweek thrashing, clutched in the arms of Token, whose powered suit was steaming, but glowing brightly. It seemed the lighting had hit him directly, but of course it would only make the cyborg stronger.

A wrench flew out of the darkness and only narrowly missed striking the side of Craig’s nose. Craig turned his head toward where it had manifested, only to see Stan there, his arm still posed in a throwing motion.

“Tupperware, get him out of here. I’ve got this one,” He said.

Token nodded. “You’re the one with the right cuffs for him.”

“No!” Tweek cried.

Craig rushed toward them, only to be stopped by a blockade of giant drills which had popped out of the ground.

“You’re coming with us, Craig! You can’t stop this!” Stan shouted over the sound of the drills.

“I won’t let you take him!” Craig shouted back.

Screwdrivers came flying his way, one by one. Craig knocked them each out of the air when they were close enough, his powerful fists sent each tool spiraling away in a different direction.

The ground began to shake beneath him, and Craig wondered what attack was coming next that could have been so powerful, but one look over at Stan's confused face showed that it wasn't coming from him.

Craig’s eyes widened as his neck snapped the other way. He couldn’t see Tweek through the drills, but he knew that must have been him.

_ “Tweek, stop!”  _ Token’s panicked voice sounded.

Stan gasped and pulled his drill out of the ground, causing the barricade to vanish and revealing the sight of the two.

Tweek was clutching Token’s arms, his hands glowing red and eyes glowing white. The metal that served as Token’s limbs seemed to be melting away, silver droplets making a molten pool at their feet. The vein in Tweek’s forehead protruded proudly against his skin as the earth began to break apart, cracking and splintering as a violent red began to show through the crevices.

Token finally winced as Tweek’s white hot hands finally penetrated to the circuits in his arms. He shoved the blonde away while they were still able to work.

Tweek’s feet lifted off the ground and the tornado sirens began to bellow. The sky formed its sickly green color as thick, heavy clouds shielded the sky and began to swirl around them dangerously.

A single thought formed in each of the men’s minds at that moment.

_ Tempest. _

_ “Did you really think you could contain me?”  _ sounded Tweek’s voice that wasn’t really…  _ his  _ voice. It was clear over the winds that whipped up quickly, sending debris flying about the streets.  _ “You thought you could contain the pure wrath of the elements?” _

Craig gulped, then took a step forward. “Tweek, honey?” he shouted over the wind. “You can calm down now!”

Tweek’s head turned toward Craig, and, though his eyes were pure white, the brutalist knew the gaze was on him.

_ “My name is Tempest,,”  _ Tweek, no,  _ it, _ said. A small smile worked its way onto its face as it craned its neck up to the sky.  _ “And the wrath of the earth and sky shall know no bounds.” _

“You’re going to destroy the town!” Stan yelled. “Dude, stop it!”

_ “You think you can control the winds with the power of words?”  _ it grinned. The earth began to rumble and shake, and it turned its head again to the edge of the city.  _ “I see you have a volcano. I cannot wait to see the beauty of its destruction. I welcome you to the new era of elemental chaos.” _

The mens’ faces paled at those words and they all turned their heads to where Mount Evanston rested, smoke wafting from its open top. The earth shook dangerously, then stopped abruptly. The sky slowly began to clear, and the smoke petered out. 

The heroes looked back to Tweek, but the elementalist had disappeared. 

Craig fell to his knees, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“Holy shit, dude. That fucker needs to chill," Stan commented.

Craig’s shock vanished as pure rage consumed him. He looked over at the bratty Gadgeteer with murder in his eyes. Craig made his way back onto his feet and stomped over to Stan, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him off the ground.

“That  _ fucker  _ is the love of my life, and this would have never happened if you assholes had minded your own fucking business,” he hissed.

A pair of heavy cuffs clasped around his wrists in a second flat, and Craig tossed Stan to the ground with as much force as he could muster with his hands restrained.

A tight grip met Craig’s shoulder, and he looked down to see Token’s disfigured hand holding him. 

“Whether or not we caused the outcome, this should prove to you that Tweek is dangerous,” the cyborg said. “And you set him free, and assaulted your team members in the process.”

"Somehow, I can't seem to regret it,” Craig huffed.

Wendy stepped forward, her phone held vertically in her hand as an image of Timmy sat on the screen. “Got all that, Doctor?” she asked.

_ “Every last word,”  _ Timothy projected.  _ “Craig Tucker, otherwise known as Super Guy, I hereby decree that you shall be stripped of your hero title and charged for the crimes of treason against the Freedom Pals, aiding and abetting a criminal, and felony assault.” _

“Take him away boys,” Wendy said.

Craig growled as he yanked his arm out of Token’s grasp. He moved his foot forward, intentions set on kicking the shit out of the three of them starting with Wendy, but another set of heavy metal cuffs clasped tightly around his ankles.

Ah, that’s right. Stan was still on the ground. He should have thought about that.

Craig couldn’t do much more than struggle and squirm as Token lifted him up and threw him over his broad, armored shoulder.

As he was taken away, Craig couldn’t help but think about how unfair this all was, how he was only doing what he thought was for the greater good, how betrayed he felt- but another thought screamed louder than all the rest.

_ At the very least, was he right? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you all for sticking with this story. Life's been rough and I lost the will to write for a while, but it looks like I'm back for the time being. I'll be trying to update more frequently, but it doesn't seem like a regular update schedule really works for me. I guess just keep your eyes peeled for more!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig is thrown into a cell in the Freedom Pals' cellar. He wants out, but he needs a good plan first. Thankfully, he's got someone with him to help him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mainly dialogue since I couldn't do much else, but I hope it's still interesting.

Craig grunted as he was thrown unceremoniously into a dark cell at the Freedom Pals’ base. He had known that they had a prison, but he never expected it to be underneath the house.

It was beneath the basement which served for the usual meetings and get-togethers, likely because many Freedom Pals would be there in large numbers if an escape were to happen.

The prison had obviously served as some sort of cellar to past tenants, considering the cold dampness that surrounded him and the unmistakable wooden barrels in the corner which were only illuminated by the light coming from the above hatch.

A heavy metal door shut him into the cell. No one had bothered to take off his restraints, which led Craig to think that perhaps the cell wasn’t fit to hold a brutalist without handicaps.

Token’s heavy footsteps trailed away up a cement staircase, and the hatch they’d entered through was closed and locked from above.

Craig let out a long, loud breath through his nose and squirmed his way back to the far back wall, where he propped himself up into a sitting position.

When he settled, he closed his eyes, then opened them again when he realized he could hear slight scuffling from the cell beside him. 

Great, so he wasn’t alone, either. He wondered what sort of monstrosity of a villain was locked up with him. Maybe it had knives for hands.

“Craig? That you?” came a familiar voice.

_ “Kenny?”  _ Craig asked. 

How ironic- When they last saw each other, Craig had wanted to kill the guy. Now just hearing his voice brought hope and relief..

“Aw, man, I didn’t think they’d catch you so quickly. I figured they’d have more tact. Tell me you at least put up a good fight,” Kenny said.

“Sorta…” Craig mumbled. “Why are you in here? I never would’ve thought they’d lock you up before me.”

“Yeah, well, Timmy came to check on me and pry for information. I didn’t give him any, so he told me he’d drop the charges against me if I squealed. I told him to shove it, so he spouted off some charges like treason and conspiracy, and said I’d lose my place in the association, and then I told him he could suck my ass. Next thing I know, I’ve got cuffs on me. Now I’m here.”

“You didn’t rat me out?”

“Dude, you destroyed my apartment and threatened to kill me, but I told you I had a change of heart and wanted you and Tweek to be happy. I’d have betrayed you and myself if I said anything.”

Craig’s features softened. “... You’re a better guy than I thought. Sure you’re petty and you piss me off, but I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“Nah, I think I kinda deserved it.”

Craig sighed. “I can’t argue much with that, but I know I was just being… hostile and overprotective. In the end, you tried to help me and I returned the favor by threatening to kill you.”

“Well… I guess that’s all over now, huh?” Kenny said, a humorless laugh in his voice. “Can we at least try to be friends again now that that’s all behind us?”

“What, you wanna be prison buddies?” Craig smirked.

“I’d make a joke about not dropping the soap, but they didn’t give us soap,” Kenny chuckled.

Craig scrunched up his nose. “Yuck. They’re treating us like animals.”

“They can’t exactly treat us like humans or we’d be out of here in a heartbeat.”

Craig rested his head against the cool cement and closed his eyes. “That’s still an option.”

“What, getting out?” Kenny asked.

“Yeah. I bet I could break the door down if I try hard enough.”

“Then what? They’ll be down here in seconds if they hear that. Do you  _ want  _ more restraints?”

“No, but I also can’t think of any better plans as of right now.”

“Just chill for a while, then. You’ve never really been the plan guy,” Kenny pointed out.

“What, you have a better idea?” Craig asked.

“Well, yeah.”

“What?”

“They have to give us food and water eventually, don’t they? And to do that, they’ll need the keys to open the slots. All the keys are on one ring, so if I can swipe the ring, I can get out of these restraints and open the door.”

“And what about the guy you’re taking the keys from? Won’t he yell for backup?”

“Not if, while I’m grabbing the keys, you reach through the bars and grab his head and put your hands over his mouth.”

“That might work if it weren’t for these cuffs,” Craig snorted.

“The bars are spaced out widely enough that you can get both hands through.”

“It’ll be awkward.”

“Are you really caring about looking awkward when it’s pitch black down here and this is our only way out?” Kenny huffed.

“Awkward holds aren’t strong ones, dumbass.”

“And what does that mean when you’re a brutalist?” Kenny asked. “You’ll only need to hold him for a few seconds to buy some time. When I’m out of the cell, I’ll knock him out. Then we’re home free.”

“Do you really think that’ll work?” Craig asked.

“I don’t think it’s  _ not  _ gonna work.”

“Somehow, that isn’t very reassuring.”

“Well, it’s the only chance we’ve got. Either we pull it off or we’re stuck here, so I’m expecting you not to let me down.”

Craig just huffed through his nose. 

There was silence for a while before Kenny spoke again.

“So, uh… before you got arrested, did you at least get to see Tweek?”

Craig snorted. “Yeah, I got to see him,” he said, a small smile on his face at the recent, bittersweet memory.

“How was he?” Kenny asked.

“Thin. Scared. He said he’d been in a coma for a while.”

Kenny went silent at that.

Craig bit the inside of his cheek. They’d just kinda-sorta made up, and now he was bringing Kenny down again without realizing it. He couldn’t let his only ally at this time end up a wallowing, self-pitying mess.

“Hey, listen, Ken… It’s not really your fault,” Craig said, trying to break the awkward silence in which he knew Kenny was drowning in his own thoughts and mistakes.

“I sedated him, then lied to him, then tried to sedate him again and ended up impaling him instead,” Kenny sighed.

“You only did what you thought was right,” Craig said. “Impaling him was a little much, though, but knowing you, it was your only option, wasn’t it?”

“Stan had already hit him in the head. He wouldn’t go down. He froze Stan in place, and I just… I guess I panicked. I didn’t mean for it to go all the way through.”

“Well, he’s fine now,” Craig said, then hesitated. “Er, well, as fine as he possibly can be, anyway.”

“Do we have any idea who fixed him up?” Kenny asked. “Sounds like a doctor we could use around here.”

“Now that I think about it, he didn’t really say anything about that.”

“Then what did he say?” Kenny asked quietly.

Craig went silent for a moment. Tweek didn’t really say much outside of mushy stuff and goodbyes, but there was one thing that stood out.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Hm?”

“Tweek said… he asked me to do him a favor.”

“And that is?”

“He said he didn’t have enough time to tell me what was going on, but I had to ask you, Timmy, or Nicole for the full story.”

“Okay?”

“Quit being dense. You know what I mean. What the hell is going on with Tweek? Haven’t I been left out of the loop long enough?” Craig growled.

Kenny went silent again.

“Don’t do this to me, Kenny. You’re the only one I can trust right now,” Craig begged.

Kenny let out a long, deep sigh. “You’re right, you’re right…” he mumbled. “You’ve been in the dark way too long, and I guess I don’t exactly have to hide anything anymore, now that I’ve been kicked from the Freedom Pals…”

Craig stayed silent as he waited for his answer.

“We had our yearly evaluation a couple months ago. Tweek was asked for a few scans and blood draws,” Kenny explained. “The way it’s been explained to me, ‘cause I don’t really understand, is that the radiation in Tweek’s system has been increasing the past couple of years. It wasn’t a huge problem until now, since Tweek’s body has obviously adapted to handle it, but the amounts in his system from this year had almost doubled from last year’s tests.”

“And that means?” Craig asked, his heart already sinking.

“The short answer? We don’t know.”

“And the long answer?”

“There’s more than one possibility.”

“Well, tell me about them. We can fix him, right?” Craig asked.

“...”

“Kenny?”

“From all the info I’ve received, all I can sum up is that he’s either dying or developing. Badly.”

Craig stayed silent as a means to press for more answers.

Kenny began talking again as anxiety took over. “I-I made Nicole brief me on every update and discovery she made, but she can’t figure out a hard answer or a solution to his problem,” he said softly. “We first thought that he was dying, but then he began developing new abilities, which had been the other speculation, but with that came symptoms. His body temperature rose way above what a normal person could survive, and then, well, you saw the personality switch. Eyes glowing white? He’s never done that before. And after he got put in the infirmary, well… I can’t tell if that was his regular panicking and paranoia or if his mind’s deteriorating.”

“Nicole said his body doesn’t react the same as a regular person’s to radiation,” Kenny continued, “but these new powers and symptoms could just be signs that he’s being poisoned by it, and if that’s true… Well, chances are that he’s not going to live much longer.”

Craig was silent as he processed every word, his heart dropping to his stomach as he pictured Tweek dying of radiation poisoning all alone, scared, and without anyone there to comfort him.

“Did she have any ideas on why his levels spiked?” Craig asked, finally.

He could hear Kenny shifting on the other side of the wall. “What?”

“I mean… Do radiation levels continue to rise after the initial exposure normally?” Craig asked.

“I have literally no idea. The way it was explained to me was that symptoms can show up an undetermined time after exposure. Like, it could be hours, days, weeks… even years.”

“But that’s just symptoms,” Craig said. “What about the  _ actual  _ radiation?”

“I literally just told you that I don’t know.”

Craig grunted. “It all just… it seems so weird to me. Why would the levels double if he isn’t even exposed to radiation anymore?”

More shuffling on the other side of the wall. It sounded like Kenny had just sat up quickly. “Dude, Craig, I think you’re onto something,” he said. “But… if Tweek was exposed to more radiation somehow, wouldn’t you be affected in some way, too?”

Craig blinked. “Didn’t you say that Nicole told you that radiation was affecting Tweek’s body differently than the average person?”

“Yeah?”

“Ken,  _ I’m  _ not an average person. Is there a possibility I’ve been affected by radiation but just don’t know it?”

“Duuuuude,” Kenny said in awe, then paused. “How would you not know? Wouldn’t you notice if there were radioactive materials near you? Also, what about symptoms?”

“You know, I thought it was just stress from moving and having to deal with Cartman every day paired with regular relationship problems… but now that I think about it, I started getting really moody about two years ago after Tweek and I moved into our first house.”

“Moodiness is a long shot, dude. I don’t think radiation does that,” Kenny said.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think radiation caused alternate personalities fixated on chaos and destruction, but look at Tweek,” Craig pointed out.

“But Tweek also had other symptoms.”

“Listen, Kenny, I know it’s a long shot, but I think our house is the only lead we have right now.”

“... okay, true. I guess that gives us an objective for when we get out. We can’t be there for long, though. When we escape, the Freedom Pals will come looking for us in every location we frequent and more.”

“True.”

“And what will we even do when we get there? How can we check for radiation sources when we don’t have a meter?” Kenny asked.

“We could always swipe one. We’re already criminals. Petty theft isn’t going to do much to our sentences when we’re already down for treason.”

“True, but what place do you know of that has a meter? It’s not like they just sell those at convenience stores.”

“I bet Walmart has them,” Craig said.

“What the fuck? How would you know that?”

“Walmart has everything.”

“Dude, we don’t even  _ have  _ a Walmart anymore.”

“No, but Denver does.”

“Oh, great, so what? We  _ walk  _ to Denver and steal ourselves a radiation meter?” Kenny snorted.

“Do you have a better idea?” Craig huffed.

“I’m sure we could find one in town. This place is crazy enough, I’m sure some people like to check for radiation from time to time.”

“So what? We break into fifty houses to search for a meter while all the heroes in town are after us?”

“Well, fuck, that sure beats walking to Denver!” Kenny snapped.

Craig groaned and laid down on the cold floor. It sure would be nice to have some blankets.

Kenny was quiet as he thought some more.

The distinct  _ clunk clunk clunking  _ of feet overhead annoyed Craig enough that he couldn’t rest. What, did the Freedom Pals just patrol their entire base all day and night? What was the point of that?

“Do you think the hospital or the clinic might have one?” Kenny finally asked.

“What?”

“I mean, crazy deaths happen left and right all the time. Wouldn’t it make sense that the hospital might have a meter to check for causes? Or maybe even the police station?”

Craig thought for a moment. “Well, I guess that isn’t exactly improbable.”

“We could split up briefly once we’re out. I’ll check the hospital for the meter, and you check the police station,” Kenny suggested.

“Why do you get to check the hospital?” Craig asked.

“Because it’s a bigger area, and I’m faster and can cover more ground than you in a shorter amount of time. We want to be quick,” Kenny explained.

“Then what? One or both of us finds a meter and then we meet back at my house?”

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

“Where do we go from there? The whole city will be looking for us,” Craig pointed out.

“Believe me when I tell you I have tons of secret hideouts. No one will find us if we lay low and switch hiding places every day or so.”

“I never took you for the hiding type,” Craig said.

“It made Hide-and-Seek with Karen more fun,” Kenny said. Craig could hear his grin, and couldn’t stop a chuckle of his own.

“How’s she doing, by the way? I never understood why you sent her money when you could just buy a house and have her live with you instead.”

“She and my mom kinda come as a package,” Kenny explained. “I couldn’t leave either of them behind, but considering my job as a hero and how many things try to kill me day-by-day… Well, having them live with me just isn’t safe. I hate to admit it, but they’re probably better off living with my shitty dad.”

Craig hummed. “That’s a shitty situation, dude. I’m sorry,” he said.

“I guess it’s not a huge deal… I just hope the money I sent them is enough to keep them going until I can find another job that pays well,” Kenny said.

“Who knows how long that’ll take…” Craig mumbled. His thoughts went to his home. If he couldn’t pay the rent, he’d lose it. Tweek loved having his own space. He’d be devastated to know the house was gone when he came back… if he came back.

Silence enveloped them for a few moments. 

“Hey, let’s just drop this whole subject. I’m starting to feel a little hopeless,” Kenny admitted.

“Me, too,” Craig mumbled. “We should probably try to get some rest. Who knows when we’ll get to sleep next?”

Kenny nodded his head, then remembered that Craig couldn’t see that. “Yeah, you’re right. Just make sure you’re awake when that hatch opens next,” he said.

“Anyone would wake up to that noisy fucking thing,” Craig mumbled as he got himself as comfortable as he possibly could be in tight restraints on a cold floor.

With that, they settled into silence in the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was a quick update! I was getting a little bothered at the odd number of chapters. Updates will continue to be irregular, since I'll be posting as soon as I've finished and edited the newest chapters. I got pretty behind on this and am trying to make up for lost time while also keeping my interest up.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realize my writing can be a little too fast-paced sometimes, and I was seeing it bad in this chapter, so I tried to slow it down... now I feel like it's too slow. Pacing is my weak point as a writer, and this chapter was pretty difficult to write as well, so please excuse anything that seems off!

Craig’s eyes snapped open as he heard the sound of the metal hatch groan and squeal, then thunk as it slowly opened. 

“I’ve got to put some oil on those hinges,” came the unmistakable mutter of Stan as the faint light that glimmered in was blocked by a smaller shadow.

Craig rolled onto his stomach and wormed his way up to the bars, then worked his way into a standing position. It at least helped that his hands were restrained in front of him rather than behind.

He tried to look into the next cell to see if Kenny was up and awake, but couldn’t see past the cement wall that separated them.

“Are you losers ready to eat?” Stan asked. “Hope you’re hungry. Wendy was nice and made shepherd's pie.”

Craig heard the soft clinking of keys as Stan reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of them. The brutalist nervously kept trying to peer into Kenny’s cell to no avail.

The slot to the front of his cell slid open after being unlocked, and a bowl of steaming mush was placed on the metal tray.

Stan then made his way to Kenny’s cell and did the same.

Craig waited as he heard the small clunk of the plastic bowl being set down, then jumped slightly when he heard it crash to the floor.

“Hey!” Stan yelped. The sounds of struggle ensued as Craig pressed closer to the end of his cell, nearest to where Stan was. The faint light from overhead was enough for him to make out that Stan was still too far away to grab.

The ring of keys made a loud noise as they smacked against the bars, and Stan stumbled back with a gasp. He turned his back to Craig’s cell, likely with the plan to run up the stairs as he screamed for backup.

That’s it, this was his chance.

Craig’s strong, muscled arms shot out between the space of two of the bars, his momentum pulling him forward until he could no longer fit through, which was about mid-bicep. Thankfully, it was enough length for Craig to hook a part of Stan’s shirt with his fingers, and using that, he yanked Stan back against the bars, jarring him roughly against the metal, dazing him just long enough for Craig to slip the chains of his cuffs over his hostage’s head and press his huge hands over Stan’s mouth, locking him firmly in place and preventing any sound even as Stan began to struggle.

Hopefully the majority of the noise had been ignored or quiet enough that anyone upstairs wouldn’t notice.

Craig struggled to keep his grip as Stan tirelessly flailed about. A grimace spread across Craig’s face as he felt Stan spit and drool, perhaps to provide a slicker surface to escape from.

“Kenny, hurry up!” Craig hissed as he pulled Stan harder against the bars, only to almost drop him as the man dead weighted himself.

“I’m trying!” Kenny hissed back.

Seconds felt like minutes as Craig strained to keep Stan locked in place. He held back a yelp of pain when Stan bit the side of his hand hard and refused to let go. Did he draw blood? Yeah, he definitely drew blood. Gross.

Craig was sure he was missing a nice chunk of meat from his hand when the blissful sound of the cell beside him flinging open blessed his ears.

Craig felt an arm slip under his hands and around Stan’s neck, so he maneuvered himself so Kenny could take the angry, toothy man.

He watched as Kenny easily pulled Stan up into a choke hold, lifting him up off the ground and keeping his arms barred tightly so the other couldn’t escape.

Craig winced as he watched Stan claw at Kenny’s arms and kick wildly against his shins to get free. Stan sure had spunk, that was for sure. Craig had always figured Stan was the weakest link, but that was proven wrong with the way the man fought so hard for his freedom.

Unfortunately, Kenny was, without a doubt, one of the strongest on the team. You don’t get to be a leader by being a pussy, that was for sure. Even with all his fighting spirit, Stan had no chance.

It wasn’t like the movies where a hold like that had the enemy out in seconds. From his own combat experience, Craig knew that a chokehold like Kenny’s could take minutes to make someone black out. It was agonizing to watch Stan as he struggled, his movements getting weaker and weaker, choked noises escaping his barred throat and bloody mouth as he fought desperately for breath, until finally he stopped, his legs swinging uselessly in the air.

Kenny held him like that for a few more painfully long seconds to make sure he was out, then gently set him down.

Almost like he had never choked out his former friend at all, Kenny stepped over the unconscious body without a single emotion on his face and unlocked Craig’s cell with a steady hand.

Craig gave Kenny a cautious look as he held out his wrists so he could take off the cuffs.

In seconds, they fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

“My feet, too,” Craig said when he saw Kenny turn away.

“Oh, right, here,” Kenny replied as he handed him the ring by the cuff key.

Craig took it and fumbled for a few seconds, smearing blood on the cold metal as he freed himself. He stepped slowly out of the cell, unsure of their next move. He shoved the ring into his pocket without thinking.

“Kay,” Kenny whispered. “They’re gonna realize soon that Stan is taking too long down here. We’re going to wait in that dark spot off to the side of the hatch and wait as the backup comes in, then get out quick and lock it behind us to spare some time.”

“Is that really going to work?” Craig whispered back.

“It better. It’s the only plan I’ve got right now.”

Craig nodded in response, though he felt that maybe this entire plan was going to fall apart and they’d be back in the cell with tighter restrictions and longer sentences long before they could taste the sweet, fresh air of freedom. 

Still, this was the only plan that offered that freedom, so, shoving his insecurities aside, Craig crept behind Kenny as they silently made their way up the staircase. Thankfully, their sneakers were quiet on the rough concrete.

When they reached the top, Kenny positioned himself in a corner just out of the light and pressed a finger to his lips.

Craig snuck up beside him and stood as still as possible after ensuring that no part of him could be seen in the light.

Above, soft voices could be heard from the heroes stationed at the base. It took Craig a few minutes to train his ears to make out the words.

_ “He sure is taking a while down there,”  _ said someone. Female. Likely Wendy. Had it already been so long that they were worrying about Stan?

_ “Give him a few more minutes. I bet he’s just talking shit. You know how he is,”  _ came another voice. Definitely male. Considering it couldn’t have been Timmy, Craig placed it as Token.

_ “Yeah, well, don’t forget who we have caged up. I don’t get why we couldn’t find better holding cells for those two,”  _ said Wendy.

_ “Better cells? They’re restrained, locked in metal cages and in a cellar beneath a basement. If that isn't enough, there's heroes up above them at all times. How much better can that get?”  _ Token snorted.

_ “I just think it’s good to be cautious.” _

_ “I can tell him to finish up if you really want to be so careful.” _

_ “I would actually appreciate that. The sooner we can get the hatch closed up and locked, the better I’ll feel.” _

They listened to the sound of the fans in Token’s metal knees whirring as he stood up.  _ “I’ll talk to Stan about getting a lock for the inside when he comes back up, then.” _

_ “What will that do other than lock one of us in the darkness with our most dangerous prisoners?”  _ Wendy huffed at him.  _ “I’d like it better if we could include fingerprint locks rather than those old fashioned built-in ones. It just feels safer to me when we use more tech.” _

_ “Of course you would say something like that. You remember I don’t have fingerprints, right? It's kinda hard to install those on metal hands.” _

Wendy sighed.  _ “I’m sure I can figure something out. I just don’t feel safe with what we have right now. The security feels very minimal.” _

_ “Noted.” _

Token’s heavy footsteps leisurely made their way to the hatch, and Craig tensed his muscles as he prayed Token didn’t have heat vision or whatever might help him see through the dark. He looked at Kenny and noticed he was holding his breath.

Token’s shadow blocked the light from above, and he took a deep breath before bellowing, “Stan! Quit harassing them and get back up here! It’s time to eat!”

Silence followed, but Token didn’t move.

The two watched as Token narrowed his eyes, trying to make out anything in the dark, then growled to himself when he couldn’t. “Wendy, I want night vision installed next,” he said. After a slight pause, he continued, “It’s too quiet down there.”

_ “Now do you get what I mean when I say we need better security?”  _ Wendy asked snarkily.

“Even having a light bulb down there would help,” Token grumbled. “I’m going in.”

_ “Not by yourself, you’re not. What if they’re waiting to take us out one by one?”  _ Wendy asked.  _ “It’s safer to go in pairs. Plus, I have a flashlight on my phone.” _

Token didn’t respond as Wendy’s light footsteps made their way over to him.

This all seemed to be going almost too perfectly, Craig thought. He crossed his fingers in hope that Wendy wouldn’t shine her phone light directly on them.

Token jumped down onto the cement platform below, completely ignoring the stairs. The sound of his heavy metal feet hitting the floor almost made Craig flinch.

Token raised his arms up, and Craig noticed the rough welding job which had fixed the metal on them that had been ruined before by none other than Tweek. It was likely that it was just a quick patch-up to make do until a new set of forearms could be made as a replacement.

“I can go down the stairs on my own, you know,” Wendy scoffed.

“Just trying to be a gentleman. The dried blood tends to be the worst near the top,” Token said with a shrug as he lowered his arms back down.

Wendy made a noise of disgust as she tip-toed down the stairs. “You know what? We need better sanitation to go with security,” she commented. She faced toward the next flight of stairs as she clicked the button on her phone that activated her flashlight, then made her way down with Token following close behind.

“What, do  _ you  _ want to scrub the blood out of the concrete? ‘Cause I sure don’t,” Token continued.

Craig could almost hear the way Wendy’s face contorted in disgust. “I think I’ll just… Talk to Timmy about hiring a clean-up crew.”

Token snorted. “Yeah, because we have that kind of money in our budget.” Their voices were getting fainter, and were echoing more as they descended.

Craig looked at Kenny, who watched them intensely. He raised his forefinger up in the air in a gesture that meant “wait for just one moment.”

“You know, it’s not actually super expensive to get a professional cleaning crew that deals with biohazards,” Wendy said. “I found out a lot of crews actually work for just above hourly minimum wage.”

“Yeah, well, how many hours are they going to put in every day? I’m already paying taxes out the ass for the buildings we destroy on the regular. I’m not giving up more of my pay just to have someone clean a place I’ll never end up in,” Token huffed.

Craig fidgeted impatiently as he waited for the next signal. He bit his lip and clenched and unclenched his fists. His legs tingled as he fought the urge to just make a break for it.

“Here I thought you of all people would understand,” Wendy said, albeit grumpily.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kenny’s eyes followed the flashlight, his eyes not making out much due to the distance. They seemed to be nearing the end of the staircase, but Wendy seemed more focused on her sanitation lecture than her surroundings.

“You know, blood rots. Blood makes people sick. Just because you don’t think you’ll end up in here-” a soft gasp resounded, cutting her words short when her phone finally managed to illuminate something on the floor. “Is that Stan?”

The light moved forward with more speed as Wendy ran toward the lump of unconscious human on the ground. Token was lost somewhere in the dark when the light moved farther away from him.

Kenny suddenly made a “follow me” motion with his hand as he quickly stepped forward, then jumped up and out the opening with ease. Craig followed, scrambling up the stairs in a panic to get out before the other two could snap out of their worry and follow. 

He turned around when his feet finally made their way back onto soft carpet. He grabbed the lid to the hatch and slammed it shut with a force that seemed to make the house shake. If Wendy and Token were still focused on Stan despite all Craig’s noisy scrambling, their only exit closing behind them surely had their attention now.

“Where are the keys?!” Kenny hissed.

Craig gasped as he checked and fumbled in his pockets, desperately trying to find them, but his shaking fingers came up empty.

Kenny growled with impatience at Craig’s predicament and crawled forward, patting all Craig’s pockets roughly until he found a hard lump in his left jacket pocket.

Kenny reached in and yanked out the keys just as something thudded underneath the hatch, trying to force it open.

“Keep it closed!” Kenny snapped as he tried to find the right key.

Craig’s hand darted out to grip the handle on the top of the hatch, holding it so tightly in place that the thin metal began to bend around his fingers.

Another rough force hit the hatch, and Craig flinched in surprise. “Kenny!” he yelped as he placed his foot on one of the metal corners to keep it more firmly in place.

Kenny quickly flipped through the keys until he reached the last one on the ring. Of course the one he needed would be the last one!

Kenny crawled forward again and shakily locked the hatch in place. “Got it, now move!” He said quickly. Craig couldn't tell if Kenny was shaking from adrenaline or fear, but he seemed more urgent than scared, and he had this... empty sort of look in his eyes.

Craig sprung to his feet, then yanked Kenny onto his own with a quick pull of his hand. They ran up yet another flight of stairs, through a messy kitchen, and finally burst out the front door together, their fingers still locked together in a vice grip.

“We don’t have long until they bust out of there,” Kenny warned. He looked down at Craig’s hand, the squeezing had cut off all the circulation to his fingers. “You can let go now.”

Craig looked down, his eyes widening as he finally realized they were still linked, and let Kenny go.

Kenny pulled his hand to his chest and rubbed at his sore palm. “Okay, we get an hour to break into our respective places, find what we need, and get out. If you’re not back at your house when time runs out, I’ll assume you got caught and move on to a hiding place by myself.”

“How are you so calm about all this?” Craig asked, wide-eyed.

“Trust me when I tell you I’m not, but now isn’t the time to talk about it,” Kenny said, backing up as though he were ready to run off.

“Wait!” Craig shouted, prompting Kenny to stop for a moment. “What if you’re the one who doesn’t make it back?”

“Then you find a place to hide and figure out a new game plan,” Kenny said. “Now, go!”

The blonde man darted away into the shadows almost faster than Craig could blink, sparing now time for more questions. 

Craig stumbled back clumsily, then finally turned his body to the direction he felt was right and began running.

His eyes desperately darted around for something he could tell time with, but forested areas tend to be lacking in the way of clocks and watches. All Craig knew was that it was dark out, which was odd since he’d been arrested early in the morning, before the sun had even begun to rise. He didn’t think he’d been in the cellar for more than a few hours at most, but it seemed that almost a full day had passed.

Craig didn’t mind the dark, since it meant he’d be harder to find, but it also meant he could easily get lost. His legs had carried him forward, as they knew best, but Craig didn’t know if he was heading in the direction of the police station or somewhere else entirely.

He knew he’d need to break through the treeline to find direction, but by doing so, he’d lose his only cover from the heroes. It’s not like he could blend into a crowd if there were one nearby. His hulking, stocky, six-foot-something figure would stick out like a sore thumb anywhere he went.

Nonetheless, he needed time more than he needed stealth.

Craig tried to focus more on his distant surroundings for a path back to civilization. The light of the moon was just enough, thanks to his now more sensitive vision, for him to make out that the trees grew more sparsely apart to the right of where he was running.

He pivoted his feet in that direction, and within minutes, he had broken free of the treeline and onto an empty, well-maintained road. The lights of the town glimmered just ahead, not too far off, and Craig estimated that if he kept pushing forward without slowing or stopping to relieve the pain in his tired lungs, that he could reach the outskirts near the school in no time.

He urged himself forward, his long, powerful legs pushing him along the deserted road faster than he ever before thought he could go.

Maybe it was the adrenaline. Maybe it was his desire for freedom. Maybe it was his will to find answers; it didn’t matter. Whatever it was, it gave Craig the strength to ignore his flaring muscles and burning lungs and keep going until he finally hit the filthy, snow-crusted edges of the town he called home.

The relief that flooded over him seemed to cancel out whatever it was that had kept him going, and, breathing heavily, he slowed to a crawl and hid himself behind the school so he could catch his breath.

His eye caught the sight of some glowing red numbers through the window of the school. Craig curiously peered in through the halfway open blinds to see Mr. Mackey’s old digital clock shining proudly on his cluttered desk.

11:03 P.M.

Craig stalled for more time to catch his breath by guessing how long he had left. He guessed that the Freedom Pals’ base was about five miles away from town. He knew he could run a mile in four minutes, but with how fast he had been running, he’d felt inclined to think that that number could be dropped down to three.

Fifteen minutes wasn’t so bad compared to the hour of time he’d been given, but every second counted, and he didn’t know what trouble awaited for him at the police station.

Craig figured he could just bust into the building, punch down the door, and start tearing up the officers’ desks until he either found the meter or ran out of time to keep looking, but the station had cameras, and having both the police and the heroes in the city out for his blood didn’t sound very appealing.

Breaking in through a window wouldn’t be very smart, either, he reasoned. Police stations were wired and armed to shit. He couldn’t so much as breathe on one of the bricks at this time of night without an alarm going off and every camera pointed in his direction.

Stealth obviously wasn’t an option here, so that left Craig with the plan of a good ol’ B&E, otherwise known as breaking and entering.

It wasn’t very smart, sure, but maybe, just maybe, he could pull it off if he got his hands on some sort of disguise...


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you tired of my long, somewhat-serious chapters with little to no comedy relief? This chapter might be a nice little break for you.

It didn’t take a genius to know that the officers in South Park were dumb as a sack of rocks. Still, Craig couldn’t help but feel as though their single shared brain cell would be enough to see through his shitty disguise.

He’d managed to sneak into the school and swipe one of the largest pieces of clothing he could find in one of the unlocked lockers of the gym, which unfortunately happened to be a cheerleader’s outfit, much to Craig’s dismay. 

He’d also managed to swipe an empty paper bag from the trash. It seemed clean enough, it had likely held some poor kid’s lunch earlier that day… No. No, still gross. 

Despite that, Craig wasn’t able to find anything else to cover his face with in the short amount of time he’d allowed himself.

He groaned loudly in the echoing locker room and stripped himself down, regretting all of the shitty life choices he’d made that led up to this, and buried his clothes in the bottom of the trash can he’d fished his paper bag out of.

He slipped his legs into the miniskirt and grimaced when it tried to slide off his narrow hips. He stuffed the hem at the top into his underwear for a quick fix. He grimaced when he saw a splotch of red on his tidy-whities when he pulled his hand away, and realized he’d need something to keep his blood and prints off the soon-to-be crime scene.

He shook his head as he slipped on the long-sleeved top, which was, stupidly, a little too small for him, then removed his shoes and pulled his socks over his hands. He slipped his naked feet back into his soles and felt a little part of his soul wither and die inside.

Craig hoped his socks weren’t nasty enough to cause an infection in his hand, but then he figured it was probably going to get infected anyway. Who knows where Stan’s mouth has been, or even when he last brushed his teeth?

Achingly, Craig spared a quick glance into the mirror above the sinks. 

Despite the all around awfulness of the whole ensemble, his legs looked  _ damn good  _ in the miniskirt.

Craig hit his forehead with his sock-covered palm, his cheeks growing red with embarrassment over the fleeting thought, and slipped the paper bag over his head in shame.

He poked two holes into his new mask so he could see, and sauntered out of the school.

All that was left was to invade the police station in this getup and go home. Craig prayed silently to whatever god in the heavens above that might listen to him that no one would recognize him in this outfit, and, maybe more importantly, that he’d get back to his house before Kenny and have time to change.

Craig cast one last look to the clock on Mr. Mackey’s desk.

11:14 P.M.

He cursed himself, realizing he had just over a half hour left to get what he needed and find his way home. He couldn’t waste any more time, so Craig began to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone want to join on as a beta for this? I think I'm struggling with providing quality chapters. I'd appreciate if anyone would want to look into helping me make improvements.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
